Teen Titans: Trouble from beyond multiple earths
by gladv
Summary: a sequel to Teen Titans: Judas among us, the team would get thrown into a whole new adventure with an old family drama at the center of it all.
1. Chapter 1

**Teen Titans: trouble from beyond multiple earths.**

**Chapter 01: **per aspera.

High above the earth's orbit, in the midst of Venus's dark side a massive alien warship was currently standing by as it's crew were preparing for combat as a young looking woman, about the age of 25, was currently obscured by shadows as she sat in the bridges centre, viewing and studying a transmission feed coming from earth monitoring none other than the Teen Titans, with particular attention to the resident alien Starfire.

The ship's crew comprising of aliens resembling a mixture of lizards and ape features manned their posts after it's captain has given the order to resume their course towards earth, addressing the young woman he simply chose to state.

'you better honor our agreement Tamaranian wench.'

The young woman just smiled as she gestured him with her hands in a seductive manner to approach her, doing just so she locked her lips with him for a single moment before responding in her native tongue.

'doubt is a direct result of thought… we both know that your kind does not have the capacity for thoughts….. leave the thinking to me while you continue to command this ship like the lap dog that you are.'

Feeling his face for a bit longer she came across a faded scar alongside his right eye as she started to smile maliciously as her hand started to radiate in a purple glow effectively burning half of his face in the process. The alien warrior taking in the pain without so much as a flinch stepped down gave and the order to the ship's pilot to maintain the course.

Meanwhile back on earth with Starfire and Night-wing, on his motorcycle heading towards Gotham.

"are you certain that nothing would happen while we left our friends back home?"

Night-wing, Richard Grayson at this point could only give a sympathetic expression towards his girlfriend/ love of his life as they pulled over towards a nearby gas station for a quick refuel.

" Star, even if technically we're making a 'mistake' every one of our team members have very capable hands…

He said as he started kissing Starfire's/Kory's soft and delicate hands to which Starfire began to affectionately giggle. The minute the bike was fueled they continued heading to their destination and while Night-wing was focusing on the road Starfire naughtily and mischievously was focusing on caressing Richard's crotch, Richard fully realizing what's going on had this to say.

"not that I don't appreciate the thought but you do realize that stunt you're pulling could land us in an accident."

Starfire could only grin as she replied.

"not to worry, I will pull us to safety if indeed the worst shall come to pass."

At this point both of them started to laugh with Richard replying.

"we both know that's not what I meant."

The pair continued to ride the motorcycle on to their destination while Starfire tightened her grip around Richard's waist while occasionally playing with Richard's pitched tent to which Richard playfully thought to himself.

'good god I've created a monster….'

Wayne manor ,early evening.

As both Night-wing and Starfire pulled into the estates main entrance, both were treated with a surprise, as neither Bruce Wayne nor Alfred were there to greet them instead it was a tall raven haired woman in her mid thirties to early forties, although by her looks alone she would be mistaken for younger, Richard after a while spoke up.

"Selena Kyle… what a surprise."

Giving a wry smile towards Richard she went over to Kory to give her the tour of the manor, Kory a little confused as to why it was such a surprise to Richard was now trying to make inquiries, to which Selena responded with.

"don't mind him, I'm sure he will do an excellent job as a fly catcher… unless he remembers how to move or at the very least, keeping his mouth closed."

Laughing sarcastically Richard kept up the pace with the other two, making sure that Selena won't give Kory any funny idea in her head while striking a conversation with Selena/ Cat-woman.

" so to what we owe the pleasure of your company Ms. Kyle?"

Not missing a beat Selena thought for a sec before choosing to answer the following.

"believe me as though it's a lovely house I'd rather be anywhere else at the moment, however I'm a vital asset in your father on an ongoing investigation….. his words not mine."

Richard/Night-wing cocked an eyebrow, already suspecting something, yet asked anyway to opt from making an incorrect assumption.

"as a confidential informant I'm guessing."

Selena only responded with a soft grin but a grin none the less as she led the both of them to the living room and with both her and Kory sitting down for a small chat, she addressed Richard again.

"be a dear and tell Bruce dinner is just about ready…. make sure he doesn't work Alfred to death while you're at it."

Richard/Night-wing gave Selena a suspicious look that said silently 'what have you cooked for us exactly?' to which Selena reacted with a hearty laugh.

"good grief… I'm juvenile at worst, not psychotic."

Richard a touch embarrassed that his suspicious side got the better of him, gave her a silent apology as he excused himself from the room.

A few minutes have passed by and Richard came back to the living room notifying Selena and Kory to head to the dinning room as Bruce and Alfred will be joining them momentarily. Once dinner started Kory got to witness a rare moment in full bloom, Richard Grayson being lively and energetic in public and though usually he wasn't an outright stick in the mud, he was definitely a young man keeping himself in check on a routine basis.

" I'm sorry to be a bother miss Andres but can you please pass the salt?"

Kory beamed at the elderly butler/father figure to master Wayne and absentmindedly floated towards the man with the salt shaker in tow, stopping their meal the occupants gave Kory their full attention with bemused and curious stares which made Kory feel a little self aware.

"pardon me…. I forgot my place for a moment….."

Bruce Wayne chose to speak next, defusing the air of awkwardness.

"nonsense young miss, within this walls there are no kept secrets….. now if I recall from what Dick told me, your powers and skill sets are directly tied to your emotions…. out of shear curiosity, can you tell us what triggered your short burst of levitation?"

Kory now visibly relaxing answered the question in a straight forward manner.

"it was a distant memory from a lifetime ago, a joyous one at that."

At that Kory thought that her answer would resume dinner, on the contrary everyone in the room were glued to her every word and with an encouraging gesture from Richard Kory began to share stories with the rest of them about her own past.

14 years ago, on a planet named Tamaran, Vega's eight planet.

On a dense tropical jungle planet, a local little girl was having the time of her life exploring the jungles of her home planet with complete disregard to the indigenous wild life populating those very jungles. Right behind the little girl were a party of three, an older girl who went by the name Komand'r, her eldest sister, Dor'ion, her confidant and most loyal of subjects, and Karras, the prince and heir of the neighboring kingdom southern to the planet.

'Karras, please remain on your guard and defend us from these wilder beasts as I go to retrieve my younger sister'.

A little confused Karras asked, not bothering to conceal his wounded pride.

'defend us!?, defend us from what?, even a newborn knows that the animals on the planet are no more peaceful than all Tamaranians are.'

Dor'ion knowing how to appease the pride of the young prince approached him as a teacher approaching his student.

'listen to me young one, not all proclamations of peace reveals a creature's true intent….. even the most gentle of giants have to show signs of brutality in hopes of survival'

Little Karras after listening intently to the older boy made a motion that he understood though he heavily disagreed with it while he and Komand'r have gone of ahead deeper into the jungle.

'quite the ambassador you are my love….. I shall need a man of your talents when I ascend the throne.'

Dor'ion answered humbly, yet with a teasing tone in his voice.

'don't celebrate just yet, may I remind you that there's a challenger to your rule?'

Komand'r unphased by his teasing answered him while giving him a small squeeze on his hand.

'may I remind you how I bested and outwitted the smartest and toughest boy on our home planet?'

Dor'ion didn't answer, he just gave a small grin saying without words 'of course not'

In the meantime the same little girl decided to take a swim deep in the heart of the jungle near a lake that by this point was all too familiar to her, discarding all of her clothes she dove in enthusiastically head first into the water doing as much laps as she could before her older sister could catch up to her, speaking of which.

'must you disrobe yourself every chance you get to step away from the palace little one?'

Easing herself in the other the little one started to float in place while she responded back.

'not as much as you love to repeat yourself older one… is it not customary to our kind regardless?

Not amused Komand'r gave a sigh before continuing the discussion.

'well there are customs and there is second nature… now would you kindly return with us? His majesty will surely scold me, or worse demote me if I fail to return with Tamaran's favorite princess.'

Mimicking her older sister Koryand'r gave a sigh combined with a pleading expression.

'please big sister?, let me enjoy this freedom a bit longer?… besides father will not scold or demote you.'

Komand'r tried to project a tough exterior before Dor'ion caught up ultimately giving in to her sister's sweet demeanor, undressing herself with less enthusiasm as her sister, however, before jumping in the water she addressed the now confused and flustered boy next to her.

'Dor'ion stand guard while I join my sister… and a little privacy if you will?'

The boy now at the peak of embarrassment tried to word a reply but his mouth failed him, instead he tried to salute Komand'r only to almost poke out one of his eyes with his thumb, settling for turning around while the two girls giggled under their breaths at the situation.

When Komand'r finally stepped into the lake her little sister Koryand'r couldn't help but notice that her older sister remained in her armor, deciding that the issue isn't pressing at the moment she continued on swimming for a few moments more. About a few minutes after Koryand'r caught a glimpse of her sister lazying about in the lake, that sight got the better of her and her curiosity floated to the surface.

'forgive me from asking again sister… would it not be more comfortable for you to remove this cumbersome armor so you may actually enjoy your stay?'

Komand'r at this point fainted annoyance to mask the betrayal she felt every time her sister asked this question, though it was the curiosity of a small child raising that question Komand'r couldn't help but feel as if she was stabbed through the back with the blade of the 'weapon' bursting through her chest and twisting itself for good measure.

'why you must ask a question you already know the answer to?…. do you enjoy reminding me that I'm crippled without it?'

Visibly afraid of her sister's reaction Koryand'r tried to defuse the situation.

'oh no sister I remember why quite clearly…. I am trying to encourage my sister to show the best side of herself… you already know that big sister.'

Composing herself Komand'r answered back.

"yes I already know, and as your older sister I command you to stop, it is a daily struggle as it is to constantly prove myself equals among my people….. i do not require your interference.'

Feeling sadness overwhelming her Koryand'r swam to her sister, embracing her with the biggest hug she could muster while burying her face into her sister's chest mumbling.

'do you hate me?'

Caught off guard Komand'r could only try to sooth her sister replying with a sincere answer.

' I hate you out of envy…. the person I truly hate is myself.'

Koryand'r at this point has ceased crying however her hug tightened around Komand'r's waist while she spoke softly.

'if it makes you feel any better hate me to your heart's content….. just please promise me that you'll never hate yourself again….'

Laughing softly a bit Komand'r responded with.

'can you release me little one?, I cannot make such a promise if I'm not among the living…'

At this both sisters started to laugh until they noticed a craft flying over them.

'it seems we need to leave'.

An abandoned warehouse district, outside of Gotham city.

A cloaked scout ship was now making entry into earth's atmosphere, making a quiet landing and out of the doors came a few low level foot soldiers now being identified as those hybrid between lizards and apes.

'why do we take orders from such a weakling Tamaranian?, we should subjugate her to our every whims.' one of the scouts made his thoughts out loud garnering a response from his other ship mates.

'have you seen what she did to our commanding officer?, what makes you think you have better odds against her?'

When the two did not get a response other than complete silence they concluded the conversation with.

'that's what we though…. now make yourself useful and create a distraction for her so she may arrive unimpeded.'

The loudmouth sneered at his comrades behind their backs before setting off on his mission.

A little while later, downtown Gotham.

'911 what's your emergency?'

'yeah I just saw the love child of Godzilla and King Kong causing trouble downtown, are you sending anyone over?'

'sir this line is for emergencies only… otherwise we can send a few orderlies from Arkham to your location…'

'.… seriously?…. do I sound fucking crazy?…. send the cops now…'

Back at Wayne manor, everyone went their separate ways after dinner with Richard and Selena taking the opportunity to spend a few minutes training in the gym, Alfred tiding up a bit while Bruce catching up on some reading with Kory spending the time outside on the balcony near the living room taking in the fresh air while also trying to inspect the older man seating across her.

"you know it's considered rude to stare at someone without saying anything…. so please what's on your mind?"

Quickly recovering from being found out Kory politely responded.

"my deepest apologies, I was intrigued by how seemingly you change demeanor, it makes you very difficult to read."

Bruce Wayne gave her a sincere smile before answering back.

"the sentiment is mutual….."

Kory at this point couldn't help from showing her confusion so Bruce Wayne/ Batman elaborated.

"you see at first glance you seem like a naive, bubbly and an approachable young woman, yet underneath it all you are a stern warrior with wisdom and experience far greater than that of an ordinary young woman."

Flattered Kory/Starfire began to blush profusely, thinking quickly she averted her gaze towards the night's sky only to come across the Bat signal illuminating brightly across the clouds. At this very moment Alfred came into the room.

"master Wayne, commissioner Gordon was on the line a moment ago….. sounding rather distressed… something to do with lizard people from outer space."

Catching the last part Starfire burst into the room with worry visible on her face.

"forgive the intrusion Alfred, Mister Wayne… did say reptilians from outer space?"

The two present men in the room gave her a quick confirmation, encouraging her to continue.

" may I request of you Mister Wayne to accompany you into battle?… I have a hunch those are my life long adversaries you're about to face in combat….."

Before she could continue she noticed that Bruce Wayne disappeared from her's and Alfred's sight.

"that young Ms. Andres is master Wayne's way of saying to keep up with him….. now you mustn't keep the master of the house waiting so off you go now."

Starfire took the cue to leave, catching up with Batman/Bruce Wayne.

"Starfire, you follow my rules when we arrive at the scene of the crime understood?….. now care to share what you know about the enemy?"

Starfire wasted not another minute.

"they're called Gordanians, a race of aliens known for being warlords, mercenaries and above all slave traders."

Seeing the hurt in her eyes as she mentioned the former he chose to focus on the next logical question.

"do they have any noticeable weaknesses?"

Starfire answered to the best of her knowledge.

"not physical ones….. however their warrior code might be exploitable….."

Batman at this point deduced the following.

"warrior code?… as in won't fight if their leader is defeated or surrenders?"

Starfire nodded in affirmation as both hurried to the Bat cave joined by Night-wing and Cat-woman.

Downtown Gotham, a few minutes later, a hostage situation at Gotham's mall.

A squad of Crown Vics were called to the scene once the invading aliens has ceased their rampant destruction of the downtown area and began picking up women at random, kidnapping them and rounding them up inside the mall, from the leading squad car came out commissioner James Gordon accompanied by Detective Harvey Bullock.

"since when are we arresting little green men?"

Gordon remained silent for a bit before answering Bullock.

"first get you facts straight….. second, we're not, our job is to contain the situation from spreading to the rest of the city."

Bullock rolling his eyes knew where this was going, started mumbling to himself.

"i prefer watching B movies,not star in 'em…."

Surveying the situation himself he saw what ugly sonsofbitches him and his men were facing against before speaking to Gordon.

"you already called him didn't you?"

Gordon gave a silent nod as Batman, Starfire, Night-wing and Cat-woman stepped out of the shadows from behind.

"Night-wing, on my right… Starfire and Cat-woman, focus your efforts on rescuing as many hostages you can."

With that Batman's crew went inside into the line of fire while from behind Bullock made a sarcastic remark.

"don't mind us actual cops, at this point we're over payed bellhops."

Watching in silence being ignored, Bullock turned to Gordon only for him to see that the man had seemingly no response.

"seriously, why do we take crap from guys like him anyway?"

Gordon spoke up in response.

"we're not, there are things only they can do and jobs best suited to us… now I want you and your men to clear out the road so the E.M.T's could evacuate the hostages as soon as possible, now go."

Bullock only saluted as he already got on the case.

Once Batman and company were inside the mall they've split up into two teams with Starfire and Cat-woman heading to the right and Batman and Night-wing kept heading to the center of the mall. It didn't take long for Cat-woman and Starfire to run across resistance, with the former charging head in using her fists this time instead of the full force of her Star bolts, that said she did use some of her energy to enhance the force of the impact dispatching of the Gordanian in a second, Cat-woman in the meantime chose to evade a direct confrontation in favor of rescuing the hostages.

"remind me not to piss you off in the near future."

Starfire gave Cat-woman a polite smile before adding.

"of course… now there's no time to waste, there are more hostages who require rescuing."

With Batman and Night-wing.

At this point and time both Night-wing and Batman scaled the upper floors of the mall while a couple of Gordanians soldiers were holding female hostages down below, Batman surveyed the scene determining the best course of action while Night-wing whispered.

"something seems strange about the whole situation….it feels of somehow."

Batman keeping quite gestured Night-wing to explain himself.

"back when I was still Robin, I had the 'pleasure' of encountering this guys head on… from what I know they attack in droves and they can hardly be bothered with collateral damage, let alone take hostages…"

Batman at this point chimed in with a hoarse reply.

"count your blessings, now rescue the hostages while I divert their attention."

With that Batman got down from his vantage point making sure his enemies have their eyes trained on him. The Gordanians taking one woman hostage addressed their challenger.

"halt human… bring us the Tamaranian princess or less you want us to take stock of lesser quality from this measly planet as slaves."

Instead of playing along with the kidnapper Batman grew deathly quiet, withing a second he produced three Bat-a-rangs launching them at the alien's right arm right in between the exposed joints on his armor, stunned the Gordanian tried to retaliate only for Batman to knock him out with a kick straight to the head, knocking him unconscious. At this point he turned to the other Gordanian.

"would anyone else try and negotiate?….. well I don't."

In the meantime Night-wing sneaks up from behind and knocked the remaining Gordanian with a well placed judo chop between the neck and the head.

As the hostages took off towards the exit Batman gave a pointed look at Night-wing.

"don't worry he'll wake up with a splitting headache…. besides it's not like we can hold back with these guys anyway."

Batman didn't say much, instead he reached to his comm link.

"Starfire, Cat-woman report."

A few seconds later Cat-woman responded back.

"we got one passed out and another coming your way due north….. I could use your special touch hon…"

Batman was stoned faced when he confirmed the info Cat-woman relayed, spotting the runaway alien he produced his grappling gun and took the shot wrapping it around the monster's neck like a lasso, wasting no time he used his force to steer the alien to veer to the left crashing into the malls upper decks making him crash to the ground.

"and you had the gall to imply that I took it too extreme."

Batman however responded differently.

"regroup with Starfire and Cat-woman while I interrogate our visitor."

Withing a few seconds however Starfire and Cat-woman rejoined the group.

"Batman is at it again?"

Night-wing nodded in confirmation towards Cat-woman and Starfire, asking them in the process to clear out the room while Batman interrogates the Gordanian or as it is putting the fear of god into the captive.

"let's see if the others are in a talkative mood."

As Night-wing and the rest were out of eyesight and ear shot Batman produced a sample of smelling salt effectively waking up the unconscious Gordanian, yet still making sure to have him pinned down as he started his interrogation with the Gordanian's right hand smashing his fingers one by one.

" my father used to be a doctor, so I have all the necessary tools to make you suffer until you've answered my inquiries"

The Gordanian surprisingly started to laugh.

"you believe your primitive methods will break me?, I was bread to be a warrior, and warriors don't betray their superiors."

Batman grinned maliciously.

" I believe you."

At this moment Batman struck the Gordanian's pressure points on his right arm crippling him while breaking the left arm completely, watching the warrior rife in pain he got close within an earshot.

" don't bother crawling, your 'comrades' won't accept a disgraced warrior into their mist"

Walking away he got on his comm again, this time however he dialed a different number.

"got four alien prisoners ready to be taken to the phantom zone, thought you might like the heads up Kent."

Confused by what he heard the Gordanian asked.

"if you're going to confine me, why the brutality? That's not heroic of you"

Batman responded without turning around.

"at face value it's not, however it is a smart way to send a message to your superior officers."

A little while later outside Gotham's mall.

Superman, the man able to leap over the tallest of buildings, faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive, has arrived to the scene of the incident only to see the bruised Gordanians with Batman keeping a close watch.

"you held back didn't you?"

Batman answered without hesitation.

"of course, I'm a measured man after all."

Superman gave Batman a sly grin saying silently 'jury's out on that one pal' before looking around and asking.

"did they at least say anything worth reviewing?"

Again Batman got right to the point.

"one thing…. they tried taking hostages unless a surrender the Tamaranian…. Starfire to them….. speaking of which where is she?"

Superman with a confident smile and aura responded to the question with the following.

"she's tending to the hostages who needed treatment with Rich… I mean Night-wing, shall I call them over?"

Batman at this point moved over Superman.

"no thanks I'll manage…. you're more than welcome to manage our uninvited guests."

Superman just gave him a gesture that said 'consider it done' before lifting the Gordanians with his bare hands, flying off into the horizon, leaving Batman to think.

'modest as ever….'

As he said so was it done, Batman made his way towards where Starfire and Night-wing were tending to some of the hostages alongside E. , Batman approached Starfire with ease yet urgency in his step.

"first I must commend you on your efficiency, it is evident that you posses more than mere brute strength, however we still have an issue on our hands."

Starfire acknowledged him and his compliment, urging him to continue.

"our uninvited guests were less than forthcoming about their purpose here, other than the fact they came for you, can you think of anyone who'd want to hunt you down?"

Starfire began thinking, answering Batman along the way.

" the Gordanians were originally hired by a group of aliens known as The Citadel, a group well known for their lust for knowledge and experimentation, however they eventually gave up on their pursuit once they realized the cost outweighed their benefit….. which leaves only one other possibility… my own sister"

With that bit of knowledge revealed, she spared no moment and began to talk about her sibling.

The northern Kingdom of Tamaran, mid day.

In the centre of the northern kingdom's capitol the rightful ruler and military leader of the planet Tamaran king Myand'r, an opposing man with a fierce stature and a boyish face, and his youngest son, Prince Ryand'r were currently waiting for the other eldest daughters for a special and pressing occasion, the occasion?, a trial between two local women each claiming maternal rights over a newborn Tamaranian. In the distance two figures raced across the sky in a fiery blaze.

'our apologies father, Koryand'r's Curiosity has managed to distract her once more, there was nothing to be done in the matter'

Myand'r just gave a small stern look before softly smiling at his youngest daughter.

'i figured as much, for the future please try and be more punctual… it is more than a mere event but a trial after all.'

With this statement the trial ceremony commences as Myand'r spoke.

' accuser, if I understand correctly you accuse the woman standing besides you for kidnapping your child in his sleep while she…. placed her deceased infant in your lap.'

The accusing woman gave a court nod as she responded back.

'yes indeed sire'

The accused woman rudely interrupted.

'this is beyond preposterous your grace, not to mention a despicable lie… surely you don't believe her….'

Before she could continue king Myand'r stopped her right there with a single raised arm in gesture.

'before we continue let me ask, are there no witnesses who can disprove one of the claims or act as a character witness?'

At that none of the people in the crowd has spoken or stepped forward until that is Komand'r spoke up.

' I beg your pardon father but if I may speak?'

At that Myand'r spoke with a neutral expression.

'yes you may my daughter.'

Komand'r made her way to the women standing on trial, she examained them both closely before speaking her piece.

'since we are at an impasse I shall require a sharp knife from the butcher or a royal guard's sword.'

Confused and a bit on edge Myand'r wondered.

'what are you up to Komand'r?'

To disguise the pain she felt with her own father not fully trusting her, Komand'r responded with exaggerated indifference.

'since there is no chance to determine who's lying and who's telling the truth, not to mention both women will not yield from their claims, the only reasonable thing to do is to split the infant in half and thus dividing custody between the two…. if they agree to such a settlement.'

At that every attendee in the audience grew deathly silent including the king and Komand'r's siblings that is until the accused spoke up.

'that seems reasonable to me your grace, please proceed'

However before Komand'r could proceed with her plan the accuser spoke up in panic and humility.

'with all due respect your grace, though that's a logical solution I would beg of you not to go through it, I'll renounce my claim just so that my little infant would remain among the living.'

At that Komand'r just gave a knowing smirk before standing in front of the accuser, gesturing her to stand tall Komand'r addressed the audience.

'people of Tamaran, I announce the accuser to be the infants true mother.… only the woman who gave birth to the infant would have sacrificed her own needs in favor of his own, only she could have shown him genuine love and compassion'

At that the audience irrupted in cheers save for the king and Komand'r's siblings who stood silently with proud smiles on their faces, after the audience's cheers died down a bit king Myand'r spoke again.

' never in my life have I been pleasantly surprised by my daughter's cunning and wisdom… therefore I believe it to be fair to give you the authority to render your judgement on the matter.

Komand'r bowed respectfully at king Myand'r's decision while she thought on an appropriate verdict.

' this court will reassemble in three days time.'

With that the assembly in the town square dispersed for the day with the royal family returning to their castle.

As Komand'r promised she thought of an appropriate punishment and verdict as three of Tamaran's days have passed. With the court reassembled on the third day king Myand'r took to the stage as both the accused and the accuser women waited patiently for Komand'r verdict.

' accused, since you've been found guilty not only for kidnapping an infant but of showing no regard for his life the tradition demands that you'll be executed on site and though it would bring me joy to honor such old tradition, it is much more fitting that you'd rot in imprisonment for the remainder of your days.'

At this point the accused woman tried all manner of begging and flattery for Komand'r to take mercy however her attention was now on the accuser while the royal guards took the accused into custody.

'tell me accuser, your husband, is he not on active military duty in service of the crown?'

The accuser humbly replied that indeed that was the case to which Komand'r proceeded.

' the verdict is as follows, for gross neglect of an infant and a minor your husband is to serve for the remainder of his life in the military while your son shall be raised by the state, you are hereby lose custody of him and forbidden for conceiving another one, if either of you ignores this ruling you'll be both branded traitors to the throne and dealt with accordingly.'

As the heartbroken woman began to sob king Myand'r had no qualms expressing the outrage in his heart and mind.

'what is the meaning of this daughter?, explain yourself!'

Non pulsed Komand'r answered.

' I make it no secret that I follow your decisions begrudgingly father but I'll be a damned fool if I'll allow mine and future generations to reward such gross acts of stupidity hence this verdict.'

Enraged by Komand'r's response king Myand'r's rebuttal came as followed.

'first of all daughter you were given detailed explanation about the decisions I made over and over again, secondly we both no there is no logic to your decision, it's cruelty for cruelty's sake'

At this point and time Myand'r began ignoring his eldest daughter as he made it to the now weeping yet vindicated mother.

'take a stand, take your infant child and leave, I'll make sure that no royal guard would come after you on my honor as Tamaran's high ruler'.

The woman did as she was told, she fled without ever looking back while in the meantime Komand'r's rage as been set a flame.

'how dare you?, not only are you lowering yourself to commoners but you dare spit on the traditions and laws that kept this kingdom and planet from ruin?'

King Myand'r knew that conflict will heed unnecessary violence and even greater unrest, so quickly thinking he hatched a plan.

'well since you are keen on following traditions of old I declare trial by combat.'

Komand'r suspicious at first eventually humored her father.

'i gladly accept, now what are the terms we are fighting for?'

King Myand'r without a second wasted spoke up.

" if you win daughter I shall allow your ruling to be carried out and I'll even hunt down the escaped criminal myself.'

Interested Komand'r respectfully asked Myand'r to continue.

'however if I win the crown would be inherited by Koryand'r while you'll be sworn to never make a claim to it so long as you live'

Rather than feel intimidated by the stakes of the trial komand'r wasted not a moment giving her reply.

'challenge accepted old one, tomorrow at noon near the palace arena'.

With king Myand'r accepting and confirmation of the event a worried and confused Koryand'r's gave chase after her older sister.

'wait… reconsider your actions and conceit this foolishness, no one can truly win from such an event taking place.

A confused and deeply enraged Komand'r spoke after abruptly stopping.

' I honestly have no idea what's hurtful, the fact that my sister has no faith in my abilities or the fact that she'd try to manipulate me into giving her the crown… in fact I must commend you on such cunning, you show potential little one.'

Koryand'r now more confused than ever before in her life tried desperately reasoning with her older sister.

' I'm afraid you're mistaken I have no desire to rule or a desire for a head ornament, I just want my family to love and support each other as equals'

Komand'r just muttered the following under her breath.

'you should have said something earlier while you still had the chance'

With that Komand'r disappeared from her sister's view as the young child saw the bitterness of her sister consume her, feeling powerless to stop it.'

In orbit between the moon and earth.

A small Gordanian escape pod burned it's way towards the earth's atmosphere with Komand'r piloting the vessel with great determination on a face riddled with cuts and scars, a sign of a seasoned warrior on a mission far more important from any known deities. As the pod continued on with it's trajectory it took Komand'r towards the slums of a particular city, Jump City, current home to the Teen Titans and Koryand'r or as she was now known Starfire.

Once the pod finally landed it landed in a poor neibhourhood just outside the city, stepping out Komand'r surveyed the area, finding not much but a couple of bums loitering around.

'well that is a complete waste of time.'

With that Komand'r took off to the skies not bothering with whom might have seen her or where, heading to the heart of Jump City.

In the meantime at Titans tower.

The Teen Titans , having a reprieve from crime fighting as of late have decided to rent a movie for movie night with three of the core members present, Cyborg, Raven and Beast boy and Wonder Girl and Kid Flash as guests at the moment, all except for Beast boy were seated on the couch in front of the TV while Beast boy was walking around in the kitchen worrying and muttering to himself.

"will you stop it already man you're making me dizzy."

Beast boy apologized.

"sorry Cy I just got a nasty feeling like something is about to go wrong, you know like a sixth sense."

Kid Flash decided to intervene.

"okay Gar, let Raven worry about that she's the third eye around…."

At this point Kid Flash got an eyeful from Raven threatening him to correct himself or else which he did.

"as I was about to say chakra stone…. besides I'm sure it's just a false…"

Before he could finish that sentence the Titans alarm blared.

Downtown Jump City.

As the Teen Titans made their way downtown they quickly realized who set off the alarm, it was none other than Warp, currently opening up portals from one place to another carrying a haul on his back from multiple stores and banks he's robbed that evening, however before he could make his escape, he was blindsided by Cyborg, Beast boy and Wonder Girl.

"give up Warp, not even you can escape us."

Arrogantly he just smirked as he opened up yet another portal calmly stepping in only to be greeted by Kid Flash and Raven, the former pointing out.

"you really should've listened to the first warning we gave you."

Before anything else could happen Raven felt a sudden surge of energy and emotion rushing in towards her and Kid Flash.

"stay close and take cover."

Right on cue Raven managed to raise a shield around the both of them as fire bolts started raining on them by a hidden figure, giving Warp plenty time to escape, thankfully without his loot and as Raven lowered her defenses the Fire bolts suddenly stopped giving Kid Flash an opportunity to react.

"what the hell is going on?"

Raven didn't answer immediately, she did however do a sweep of the surrounding area to see if she could locate the mysterious assailant, with not much luck.

" I wish I could give you an answer, but this much is clear, we weren't the only party with an interest in Warp"

At this point Kid Flash accepted the answer as he started carrying the stolen goods back to their owners, while the mysterious assailant being revealed as Komand'r flew in the general direction Warp fled to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02: **one thing leads to another ( une chose mène à une autre ).

' ever since I was young I was fully aware I am apathetic to the sufferings and needs of people around me, that's why it's easy for me to be a criminal, however if there's one thing I hate the most is….. how do you say it in English?….. une blague, se moquer de… to be a laughing stock.'

It's been a few hours since Warp managed to give the Teen Titans the slip but still that didn't give him a sense of relief, quite to the contrary, it gave him even more stress now being a fugitive from the law and a group of overzeluse teenagers with an unshakable moral code. The only solace he did find is that he had multiple hideouts to choose from, the most frequent being used was a rundown apartment just above a German hobby shop. Entering the shop in order to gain access to the apartment Warp tried to greet the shop's owner however the owner gave him the warm greetings of frostbites so Warp didn't even bother to continue the conversation, instead he went straight upstairs got in the apartment and sat himself in his small living room fishing out a backpack collecting the essentials while tinkering with his suit.

Unbeknownst to Warp Komand'r kept a close tabs of him since she helped him escape and was now casing his hideout from ground level all the while thinking to herself.

' I wonder how to introduce myself? Loudly or should I go straight for his libido and seduce him?'

From what Komand'r learned so far from earth is that it didn't take much to seduce earthlings, especially the male kind, in all due fairness it wasn't hard to accomplish it since everyone would stop to look at the strange woman who wore a combination of breast plate armor accentuating her breasts with the addition of a dark blue see through top, leaving little to the imagination.

"seduction it is then.'

A few minutes went on by in absolute silence as Warp continued maintaining his suit that is until an explosion from downstairs broke the silence, the explosion shook the apartment to the core, destroying some of the furniture out of place while Warp tried to get the suit to work properly so he could escape, however, as luck would have it his suit wasn't functioning properly just yet and the store downstairs has started catching flames….. purple flames?.

Before he could process what was happening even further the front door to his apartment started glowing purple as well before completely melting in front of his eyes revealing a young woman in a strange revealing attire posing seductively in front of his door. Feeling confused yet aroused, he tried to maintain control by focusing on a sense of righteous rage, he quickly charged at her which she blocked effortlessly and instead of attacking him back she captured his lips and with her tongue catching his own making the simple act of kissing look like she's capturing him in a vice grip.

After a few minutes of Warp struggling against the odd young woman, said young woman released him finally allowing him to catch some much needed air.

"mm my commendations to you Emil LaSalle not every man has the will and audacity to defy Komand'r of Tamaran"

Finally catching his breath Warp answered.

"clearly you're not from around here, no one dares to assault the notorious and fearsome….."

Before he could finish his sentence Komand'r smiled a malicious grin while pinning him down with her heel dangerously crushing his throat.

"spare me the theatrics and follow me we have a lot to accomplish and little time to do it"

Komand'r at this point let go of his throat once she saw he conceded and immediately grabbed him by the throat as she took to the sky as the purple flames consumed the apartment to dust and rubble.

In mid air Warp couldn't help but struggle which internally pissed Komand'r off something fierce, so without second notice she let him go from her grip only to let him fall, feeling done for Warp's life began flashing before his eyes before noticing Komand'r catching him by the shoulders, now griping him better before she continued with her flight plan.

"one asshole to another, let me know when you decide to drop me off again."

In the meantime back at the arson scene, the Teen Titans were alerted to the crime by the local police, Cyborg Raven and Beast boy were called to the scene while Wonder Girl and Kid Flash stayed behind just in case trouble would continue to brew or escalate. As Cyborg began a sweeping scan of the crime scene using his super computer body as a makeshift C.S.I lab, Beast boy and Raven elected to scan for clues the old fashioned way.

"Raven?, since when it's our jurisdiction to investigate arson cases?, not that I'm complaining, we rarely get some quality time together"

Raven kept silent for a few minutes before answering.

"in general you're right, we don't have the expertise or the authority but I strongly suspect the arson isn't the garden variety… and on a different topic please try and keep focus"

Beast boy feeling a bit defeated went on ahead but not before feeling his hand gently being gripped by Raven, which perked him up. With that in mind he turned into a blood hound to sniff for clues, almost immediately catching a whiff of a scent, a sweet yet strong scent.

" I believe you're right Raven, it's smells like perfume around here, but nothing like I ever smelled before"

Before Raven could response a feminine but familiar voice responded from behind.

"you are correct Beast boy, that scent doesn't belong to planet earth"

At this point both Raven and Beast boy were greeted bu Starfire's warm personality along with Night-wing's accompanied by Batman who saw feet to get caught up to speed by Cyborg, giving Beast boy a chance to wonder out loud.

" I take it your honeymoon got cut short?"

Beast boy was about to get an earful from Night-wing but Raven beat him to the punch by silently stomping on Beast boy's foot while the latter stifled a yell of pain allowing Raven to take charge of the conversation.

"as much as it's pleasant to see you both back you were beginning to say something?"

Starfire getting back on topic continued the conversation.

"the scent Beast boy caught was of this earth, it is from Tamaran, it belongs to my older sister Komand'r or being dubbed by earth's culture as Blackfire."

Beast boy at this point jumped back in to the conversation.

"let me guess, this sister of yours just by coincidence is evil am I right?"

Starfire nodded but corrected him on one thing.

" I do not know if evil is the right choice of words however, cruel and unjust are the most definitive descriptions to her character"

Beast boy at this point turned back into a bloodhound and continued sniffing for clues, picking up the scent again he transformed back to human form.

"follow me I got enough of her scent to get a good idea to where she's headed"

Night-wing at this point chimed in on the conversation.

"i appreciate the initiative Beast boy but heading in without a solid plan won't do us any good."

Speaking of standing around, that's what Warp and Blackfire were doing standing by the side of the road, the latter failing to see the reasoning behind it.

"remind me again you simpleton why are we halting our progress when we could take flight and gain some ground in the process?"

Warp having no patience himself tried to control himself from snapping.

"like I mentioned a while ago, if you want to take flight go ahead and take flight I don't care, but you'd risk getting found out by the Teen Titans and all of your plans go….. how do the Americans say it… yes, down the toilet."

Listening intently Komand'r followed up with this question.

" if I was to assume there was a plan, other than bore me to death would you kindly share the details before I incinerate you to fertilizer."

Warp not phased by the warning simply chided Komand'r on her childish behavior before commencing with the conversation.

"while your initial plan to deal with the Titans is very smart you miscalculated on one aspect, the man you seek is help will not grant you favors just because you both share common goals or traits, he's a busyness man and most busyness men need an incentive to invest, as to why we stand here….. well we need transport to conserve our strength"

At this point and time a few cars have passed by in variant sizes and models. None of them met the standards of Warp, Komand'r was about to wring and snap the fool's neck until she spotted a vehicle to her liking, a purple Lancia Beta Coupe, to the dismay of Warp.

'you have got to be kidding me'

Without so much as a word Komand'r walked out to the middle of the road facing the vehicle head on causing the driver to stop suddenly.

"get out if you value your life."

The man in return gave her a sideways glare and a raised eyebrow, obviously not willing to comply to which Komand'r in return did not wait for him to open his mouth, she grabbed him by the throat in a choking motion before incinerating him completely even making sure to incinerate the bones to ash.

"la pute."

Komand'r ignored Warp's comment as she got into the driver's seat with Warp seating himself right along side her.

"do you even know how to drive?"

She gave him a look, silently saying.

'does it even matter?' before driving on ahead.

Back with the Teen Titans, Beast boy Raven and Starfire were in hot pursuit of Blackfire and Warp, while Night-wing, Batman and Cyborg stayed behind as backup recruiting Kid Flash and Wonder Girl as a last line of defense.

"so let me get it straight, we're not going after your sister head on, we take down Warp himself making him useless to her in an attempt to make her retreat and leave the planet?"

Starfire gave a firm nod replying.

"that's correct, however I sense hesitation in you, may I ask why?"

Beast boy in turn continued the conversation with.

"oh no reason, I'm just wondering what's stopping her from murdering us all instead of running away with her tail behind her legs….that's all"

Starfire calmed him down by answering.

"if she'd simply want me dead she would have done so years ago, she won't kill me until she humiliated me and everyone that's close to me"

Beast boy at that just made a comical expression that said silently ' I feel much better now' as both him, Raven and Starfire continued on with the chase, while the rest of the team kept up decent pace following them.

With Batman, Night-wing and Cyborg.

While Batman drove the Bat-mobile, well a lighter and sporty version of it anyway, Night-wing shared a ride with Cyborg, the latter couldn't help but notice that the former looked a bit unfocused.

"care to tell me what's eating at you bird man?"

Night-wing now giving him a stare that said 'you're hanging too much with Beast boy' just gave a sigh saying.

"besides facing an opponent who can kill us on a whim?…. well I don't want to come across as an asshole, but what's Batman doing here? he's got enough to deal with back in Gotham."

At that Cyborg could only speculate because truth be told,he had no problem admitting to the fact that Batman was a tough nut to crack. At this point in time both got a call from Batman himself.

' I know me being here strike you as odd but considering someone sent monsters and aliens after my son and girlfriend, not to mention endangered the city I swore to protect….. well consider it as that someone just became a mutual enemy for the both of us… p.s for future reference if you want to keep a conversation private make sure your comm is on a separate channel.'

At that Night-wing looked apologetic as he replied with.

"sorry I am just worried about you sometimes"

Batman only gave a small genuine look silently replying ' I share that sentiment' before Cyborg interfering.

"any luck tracking Warp and Blackfire?"

Batman smirked from behind the other line with a wry smile pointing out.

"fortune favors the prepared and in this case I'm programming the Bat-mobile's computer to scan for any traces of radiation/heat signature Blackfire might have left in her flight path… I'll update you in a few minutes Batman out"

Back with Cyborg and Night-wing the two continued trailing the other Teen Titans who kept them constantly updated as to where Blackfire might have gone, in the meanwhile Night-wing kept glaring at Cyborg silently questioning his friend's impeccable timing to which Cyborg just gave a passing off motion until suddenly without a warning he made an emergency stop almost choking Night-wing on the passenger seat's seat belt.

" a little harder next time I can still draw air here…"

Cyborg sarcastically joked while answering his friend and brother in crime fighting.

"actually I was planning on plastering your face on the windshield but all jokes aside we hit a problem, Starfire just stopped in place."

Near the entrance of Metropolis with Warp and Blackfire.

The two made their way into the city when a concerned Warp made is worries clear.

" I know you wouldn't explain yourself to me but what are we doing here so soon?… aren't we supposed to finance ourselves to get Luthor's attention?"

Komand'r just smiled a sinister smile before answering.

"that won't be necessary we won't appeal to his generosity… we're gonna hit his businesses simultaneously, appealing to his wallet and forcing him to listen."

To Warp's horror he could only thing to himself the following.

'bon dieu cette femme est folle au-delà de la croyance'

However before he could voice his thoughts on the whole matter komand'r shushed him by gently and firmly placing a finger on his lips.

" I know your pitiful little mind and how it works, we won't be stealing his wealth, we'll be incinerating it."

Having heard enough Warp finally protested.

"stop this car at once you lunatic, if you want to declare war on Lex Luthor go right at it I'll even send you off with a Bon Voyage but I am out as in finite, I want to live for a change"

At that Komand'r seemed relaxed, too relaxed even.

"suit yourself, however you're still wanted by the authorities and I have no qualms about hunting you down and killing you… so may we continue?"

Seeing no way out of it warp reluctantly conceided as both of them drove into the heart of Metropolis.

With Starfire, the Teen Titans and Batman.

When Night-wing got out of the T car he wanted to rush over to see if Starfire was hurt, but a soon as he smelled the air, he noticed it , the smell of ash and human remains in the air, almost making him suffocate.

"Star, rest assured we'll find Blackfire and we'll get to the bottom of it, in the meantime I'll go check on Beast boy to make sure he's not puking his guts out."

Starfire acknowledged him by lightly squeezing his hand asking.

"may I share a ride with you and Cyborg?, the thought of what Komand'r did is too upsetting for me to keep flight."

Night-wing in turn hugged her tight petting her head silently saying 'of course….. anything for you'

Batman stood and watched from a distance as the Bat-mobile's computer zeroed in on Blackfire's radiation gathered by Cyborg, once the process was complete Batman took a closer inspection before heading Night-wing's direction.

" I hate to interfere on an intimate moment but I managed to track down Blackfire's movements."

Night-wing stood silent yet attentive urging Batman to continue.

"Metropolis, more specifically the Halldorf Hotel."

Halldorf Hotel,Metropolis, 02:30 am.

As the stolen car arrived in the parking lot with Warp and Komand'r, the former couldn't help but feel that his nerves were getting shot and his anxiety rising, so he did what felt best for him he quipped.

"ingenious…. I was thinking of inviting ourselves into Luthor's living room literally robbing him under his nose, but your choices are as subtle as ever."

Komand'r however didn't care one bit, instead opting to grabbing him hard by the throat.

" I may not be a resident of this planet but your demeanor tires me, now shut up and start doing your part."

Holding him just enough to get the message Komand'r released Warp as both of them headed to the hotel's lobby.

"let me do all the talking, I know those types very well"

True to his word Warp under the name Emil Lassale he managed to book a penthouse suite, to the wonderful surprise of Komand'r.

'well at least he's got his uses'

Warp to Komand'r's surprise immediately got to work logging in to the hotel's internet servers and started doing research on potential Luthor assets both of them could rob without losing a limb or two in the process and with her curiosity peaked Komand'r got closer to Warp's dismay.

"can you back off crazy woman, we don't have much time until the Teen Titans find us and kick our collective asses."

Komand'r scoffed at that remark.

" I already neutralized our greatest threat, the rest of them are a bunch of weaklings."

Warp tried to wrap his head around on what exactly did she mean until he came to a realization.

"the driver…. but how is he relevant?"

Komand'r at that shushed him while pinning her foot on his crotch twisting it in the process.

"that's an unimportant inquiry… now keep working unless you want to prove yourself obsolete."

At that Warp begged of her to release him and once she did he took a few moments to breathe before conjuring a small warp portal.

" I'll be right back you psychopath, we're going to need a few things before we can execute your plan."

Komand'r dismissed him with a pointed look that said 'don't try anything funny or else' just before he vanished into the portal, in the meantime Komand'r allowed herself to relax for a few moments before heading towards the bathroom to freshen up, starting to strip off her clothes she hopped into the shower first.

'hmmm humans are surprisingly less primitive than I thought'

As Komand'r started to shower herself Warp has returned with a few items, now ready to resume his work while in the meantime she sensed his arrival, now from within a steaming shower she called out.

"Emil be a dear and come help me wash myself"

When she didn't get a single response she shouted again and for a second time until the door burst open with an angry expression being dawned on Warp's face.

"madame I'd rather feed on my own testicles than to grant you anymore favors or requests, now keep your mouth shut I have work to do".

A few minutes has passed as Warp went over the intell he acquired in his head that is until Komand'r came out of the shower, with nothing on but a few pieces of her armor to cover her.

"do I need to repeat myself wo….."

But before he could finish his sentence Komand'r grabbed him by the throat while pinning him to the bed.

"as I repeated myself countless times you're working under me… what I want I get… and right now I crave meaningless sex."

Now gaining a bit more confidence Warp asked.

"so if I understand you correctly….. you'll give yourself willingly for me to dominate you?" smirking while emphasizing the last part to which Komand'r grinned lustfully while tightening her grip on his throat.

"don't flatter yourself…. the only man worthy to dominate me was my lover… you're nothing more than a mere plaything."

As Warp's confidence had struck an all time low at least he was content something else went up instead.

"any favorite position or would you like to do it as americans say it… like a wild animal?"

Komand'r just grinned as she went down on Warp effectively tore his pants off while he had only this comment.

"okay like animals it is just be….."

At this point he felt Komand'r's teeth on his tights as he tried for dear life not to scream, Komand'r having no intention on being gentle reached towards a radio set in the room, turning it up to a random station when Judas Priest's Another thing Coming popped on making Komand'r think.

'loud… aggressive…. oh yes that will do…..'

Komand'r began with a blow job, sucking as hard as she could muster while fondling Warp's testicles a few times to make him more at ease, however her touch was rough and unpleasant like sand paper or thin razor blades, Warp at first tried to physically protest but it didn't fair him any better so he tried begging.

"please stop….. you're being too rough… mon Dieu…"

With that Komand'r gave a sadistic yet naughty smile as she stopped and with her right arm tore the rest of his clothes off of him and with the same momentum pushed his face downwards towards the bed almost snapping his neck as she mounted on him, locking him in place with her tights as she began riding and grinding on him.

"yes…. fuck me you pathetic little worm…. don't you dare ejaculate before I tell you to…"

At this point though Warp had other concerns since her thighs held him tight to the point when he was struggling to breathe so with the last of his strengths he managed to swipe away her arm, lift themselves both off the bed and smack Komand'r up against a wall as he began to fuck her harder.

As the minutes went by both lovers, well described in the loosest terms possible, began to feel like they're reaching their climax with Warp reaching release first, now panting from the effort, meanwhile Komand'r had managed to retain some of her strength.

"now that you're done let's focus on business."

Finally catching his breath Warp replied with.

"shush woman… I am always focusing on business….. now I found a nice target for us… weapons caches owned by Luthor himself through a dummy corporation Thunder."

Intrigued Komand'r encouraged Warp to continue.

" now if we hit multiple caches not only we will cripple Luthor's operations, we'll get away with it due to Luthor's inability to press charges, and as an added bonus we could separate the Teen Titans apart making them all the more easier to handle."

At this point Warp returned to the computer station to do more research before they'd have to leave while Komand'r snaked behind him and grabbed him by the testicles.

"that's the proficiency I'm looking for."

Feeling uncomfortable Warp almost squeaked out.

"let go of me woman, our plan would go straight to the toilet if the Teen Titans would find us before we could leave this hotel."

Komand'r chuckled as she went towards her clothes.

"you worry too much…. besides I have an army of cannon fodder ready to die on my beckoned call"

From within Venus's dark side the Gordanian ship awaited patiently for their commander to contact them with further instructions, with a few minutes passing by the ship's computer console lit up as a Gordanian who stood by on alert addressed a hoard of his kind.

'let the invasion commence'

With that the Gordanian ship deployed a large number of pods speeding towards earth.

Outside of Metropolis with the Teen Titans.

As the Titans along with Batman entered the city Cyborg voiced his concerns as he was driving towards the pinpointed destination.

"do you all think we caught up with them on time?"

Batman through the comm answered.

"our timing couldn't be better… take a look above."

As the teen Titans looked to where Batman pointed out they saw Superman's silhouette flying and hovering over them.

"thank god I found you guys, a swarm of Gordanian ships are inbound with earth and I could use all the help I could get."

Batman cut in before anyone else could react.

"myself, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and superman will hold the invaders in place the rest of you go after Blackfire and Warp."

Everyone agreed with the plan even though the expression on their faces were less than enthusiastic that is until Superman reassured them.

"not to worry Wonder Woman was notified too and she's on her way to help."

With that reassuring statement the Titans continued on as Batman and Superman continued on to counter the invading Gordanians.

Thunder corporation weapons cache, with Warp and Blackfire/Komand'r.

As Warp and Komand'r/Blackfire infiltrated the first of several weapons caches on their list they surprisingly encountered little to no resistance, even more surprising they found the whole place completely abandoned forcing a laugh out of Komand'r.

"mind telling me what's so funny woman?"

A steely cold and uncaring answered from a distance while several armed security men followed the figure revealing himself to be Lex Luthor.

"she led you into a trap you C list buffoon."

Before Warp could make a comment Lex Luthor produced a dart gun from his pocket shooting a tranquilizer dart into Warp's neck making said villain collapse, Komand'r unphased spoke up a few moments after.

"let me guess the excessive number of soldiers are for protection against me correct?"

Luthor gave a sinister smirk before answering.

"well at first, if I maybe so bold as to say I never trusted anyone who isn't human… but then it occurred to me, why should I keep our original agreement instead of capturing you for further study?"

Komand'r at this point left not bothering with the bold man answering the following.

"because your ambition knows no bounds… now begone with your quarry I'll shall provide you time to do your part in addition to the riches that were promised you."

Lex Luthor only gave a silent stare of content that said 'nice doing business'

With that in mind Luthor left his employees to carry the unconscious Warp off the premises while he returned to his work as if business was as usual. With the Teen Titans tracking Blackfire's radiation signature they made it to the suite her and Warp were sharing briefly. The minute the Titans went inside Cyborg connected to the hotel's server checking if there were any digital bread crumbs left behind, Beast boy catching a whiff of what went down chimed in.

" whatever you do make it quick the smells here drives me nuts… yuck"

Cyborg absentmindedly responded with.

"i don't need a backseat driver… so how about making sure I didn't double park?"

With that Beast boy quickly mouthed a thank you as he bolted out of the room just as Raven went inside and cracked a window open.

"what are you hoping to find exactly?"

Cyborg answered back.

" I already did…. these fools are trying to go after Lex Luthor….. can't say for sure though where they went"

Looking out of the window Raven noticed a small figure in the skyline get bigger and bigger, closer and closer as the figure went straight towards their location, prompting Raven to speak up.

"get ready I have a hunch you'll get to ask those fools directly."

With that Cyborg made a call to Starfire and Night-wing who rushed in soon after preparing themselves for a fight while Blackfire came bursting in to the room through the wall, creating a shock wave that sent the Teen Titans a few feet backwards.

'little sister…. we reunite at last'

Starfire still not feeling 100% like herself has steadied herself getting ready to combat her sister hand to hand when she replied.

" do not dare to speak in a language which belongs to a culture to whom you've turned your back to."

At that Komand'r/Blackfire gave a small smirk as she tried to rush and tackle her sister to the ground to which Starfire effectively blocked but due to her psychological state she found it taxing to fend her sister off, Night-wing regaining his baring first tried to flank Blackfire from the side and at first it seemed like he succeeded since a kick he sent Blackfire's way made contact with her jaw sending her a few feet away from Starfire however all the kick did was make a small bruise to which Blackfire rubbed off while grabbing Night-wing by the collar of his uniform, making her say before she tossed him aside.

"wait for your turn"

Night-wing on the other hand had no intention on doing that so right before she threw him across the room he released smoke bombs which disoriented Blackfire, making her throw and his fall less severe than what could've been.

"you're special so I'll save you for last."

With that in mind she now focused her efforts on Raven and Cyborg, to which the resident healer drew a force field around her, levitating a few debris just in case while the mechanical teen just cracked his knuckles while loosing some joints, getting ready to fight.

"are you sure you'd want to risk your life against me?"

Cyborg only slightly smiled while replying.

"trust me after what I've been thru…. you're nothing all that special."

With that he charged Blackfire head on with a flurry of punches connecting with her jaw and stomach, all making direct contact. As she was hit repeatedly Blackfire tried to determine if her opponent was leaving any openings or in tail had any weaknesses to exploit, however Komand'r failed to notice that her opponent's last punch didn't connect rather he was fainting a punch which in reality he converted his fist into his white noise cannon, getting in turn a direct hit from his cannon from point blank range, knocking her on her back and making her…. draw blood?… At this moment Komand'r/Blackfire tried to regain her senses, mostly her hearing but before she could do anything else she felt a few sharp objects dangerously close to her throat covering her from all directions, above her stood Raven with an unreadable expression.

"if you value your life, stand down… leave with your Gordanian army and never come back."

Komand'r/Blackfire started to smile, chuckling a bit at the process.

"i sense a kindred spirit, so allow me to dispense some advice… threats alone will never make your enemy surrender…. you must show willingness and fortitude to carry them out as well."

With that said Raven manipulated the debris closer to Blackfire's neck scratching her in the process.

"dully noted."

At this point Beast boy came rushing in oblivious to what's going on around him.

"guys…. the Gordanians are swarming the place we need to find…"

Before he could finish that sentence though he came to a realization, like something was clicking into place when he saw Raven getting up close and personal with a woman who looked a bit like Starfire, only with a crazy look in her eyes, so putting two and two together he finally reacted.

"well that was a piece of cake."

Raven undeniably on edge chose to speak up next, trying not to lose her cool.

"it ain't over just yet, once Blackfire gives the order to retreat than we can celebrate"

'fools' Komand'r/Blackfire thought to herself as she spotted in a distance a hoard of Gordanians heading her way. Wordlessly she signaled them to attack just when Raven took her eyes off of her, the Gordanians in turn heeded the command and began attacking, however something else dawned on Komand'r, the Gordanian's attack left little room for her to escape, meaning she was attacked as well as the Teen Titans, Koryand'r/Starfire though blindsided by the attack managed to recover just as Night-wing regained full conciousness.

"Raven defend Rich…. Night-wing at all costs…. Beast boy, Cyborg and myself will face the Gordanians head on."

Night-wing being treated by Raven pointed out the following.

"if we do that who's gonna guard Blackfire from escaping?"

Raven chose to answer for Starfire as Starfire and the rest of the Teen Titans have charged head on, luring the Gordanians away from the building.

" I'm sure that was Blackfire's intention all along…. that doesn't matter right now, now we need to save as many innocents as we can… are you strong enough to walk?"

Night-wing answered as follows.

" just a splitting headache….. nothing a couple of aspirins couldn't fix though"

With Starfire, Beast boy and Cyborg, downtown Metropolis.

"friends remain vigilant, Blackfire isn't above a shot below the belt….. or was it waist line?"

Beast boy was about to comment on Starfire's warning but above him Blackfire/Komand'r interrupted him before landing a kick to his lower back.

" you were always a spoilsport little sister."

Narrowly dodging the kick all Beast boy managed to do was make sure that the kick became nothing more than a scrape as he transformed into an ankylosaur, charging her head on with it's tail mace only for Blackfire to stop him with her bare hands head on before flipping him on his back like a mere turtle, making him regress back to human form.

" I must admit, out of my sister's pitiful group of friends I find you the most fascinating."

Beast boy feeling the sting, shot a sting of his own back.

" lady full disclosure…. I dated a psycho bitch a while back…. so you can shove your compliment up your ass for all I care."

Komand'r/Blackfire, much to Beast boy's confusion, wasn't the least bit offended, on the contrary she seemed quite amused, so in return she swiftly caught Beast boy by the throat.

" I really like you small one…. so I'll grant you a quick death."

But before she could do anything else she found herself dodging a sneak attack by both her sister and Cyborg.

"step away from the little man lady and I'll might let you escape with your dignity"

Komand'r/Blackfire released Beast boy as he dropped to the ground, fainting surrender.

"you got me… I know when to surrender."

Komand'r surrendered to her sister while Cyborg went over to check on Beast boy.

"sorry for the wait man, you feeling good?"

Beast boy who finally managed to regulate his breathing took a moment before answering sarcastically.

"oh sure I love getting chocked by psychotic vicious bitches….."

Rolling his eyes at his green friend's sense of humor Cyborg did a quick scan on him checking to make sure nothing is broken or out of place, in the meantime however Beast boy finished his little rant with the following.

"crazy bitch didn't bother to ask me out on a dinner or invited me to a movie."

At that Cyborg concluded his analasys with.

"the good news is you're gonna live….. the bad news is your humor has been dead for a long time and there's no reviving that."

Beast boy was about to stick his tongue at his cybernetic friend while considering giving him the finger as well but he was interrupted by the arrival of Raven and Night-wing with Batman close behind them, Night-wing was about to congradulate the three heroes however Beast boy clarified.

"hold the applause…. we didn't do nothing she surrendered all on her own"

Night-wing arched his eyebrow in curiosity before sharing a knowing silent glance with Batman that said 'it's too good to be true' before asking his mentor/ father figure.

" I'm guessing Superman and Wonder Woman are busy with cleanup and hunting down stragglers am I correct?"

Batman gave a silent nod while Night-wing called Wonder Girl and Kid Flash for an extra pair of hands. In the meantime Batman along with the Teen Titans came to an agreement on what to do with the now surrendering Blackfire, it was determined that the Teen Titans would get a first crack at her to try and find out what she was really up to and in case she proved too tough she would be handed over to the Justice League, in the meantime Kid Flash arrived carrying Wonder Girl.

"sorry for the delay guys I had to carry extra baggage."

At that remark Wonder Girl gave him a quick kick to the shin, to which Kid Flash comically winced before diverting quickly his attention to his other friends and their 'guest'.

"so this is the queen bitch who gave you a run for your money?"

Komand'r/Blackfire only laughed at him while trying to snarl and intimidate him unsuccessfully before Beast boy of all people butted in.

"speaking of running…. where have you been? Making pizza deliveries?"

A bit confused Kid Flash answered.

"well I did have to fight off space lizards and make sure no innocents were caught in the crossfire, speaking of pizza I'm getting hungry. Is anyone else hungry?…."

At that Night-wing took it upon himself to intervene.

"don't mind him, he's a little mad this psycho, now point at Blackfire, got the jump on him."

Now that everything made sense to Kid Flash he decided to ask the next logical question.

"where do you want the nutty broad delivered?"

Night-wing told him to take her to Titan's tower to which he replied.

"30 minutes or it's free."

At this point Kid Flash took Blackfire into his custody before taking off running disappearing in an instant. With that Beast boy approached Night-wing.

"should we remind him that superheroes don't get paid?"

Night-wing chuckled a bit before answering.

"he knows… he just gets a kick out of making corny jokes."

With that the Teen Titans assured Batman that they got things under control before taking his leave back to Gotham.

Meanwhile at Thunder corps main offices.

Lex Luthor was currently doing paper work regarding his various business dealings as his secretary/girlfriend ms. Eve Teschmacher, a knockout redhead made her way to Luthor's office.

"excuse me Lex… Mr. Luthor, Mercy Graves is calling, said it's about business… should I tell her to take a hike since you're too busy planning a romantic getaway with yours truly?"

Lex Luthor didn't mind her at first, however he did raise his head to meet her gaze, giving her a death glare. Sensing her boss isn't too pleased ms. Teschmacher just concluded with this.

" oh never mind I forgot I was busy too… I'll just leave you alone while I'll patch you through."

With that Luthor picked up the phone.

"is our new test subject arrived safely?… good, proceed as planned."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03: **human nature.

A few hours into the next day, an undisclosed site off the coasts of Corto Maltese.

In a state of daze and confusion Emil Lassale also known as the villain Warp came to from his sedation only to realize he was being strapped down into an operating table with no one in sight expect for a woman dressed in dark clothing keeping watch on him like a hawk.

"you woman….. untie me at once… do you know who I am?"

To his irritation the woman did not speak, she barely even acknowledged his presence and for a long while she treated him like thin air, getting upset at this Warp started yelling obscenities in both French and English, that is until he heard the sounds of mechanical doors opening, now paying attention to who walked in he realized it was none other than Lex Luthor.

"monsieur Luthor?…. was is the meaning of this?, please let me go I have not done anything against you… at least out of free will."

Luthor on the other hand stopped the french man's ramblings with a dead pan stare, responding with.

" I know all about it, now forgive the excessive theatrics and let's get down to why you were brought here….."

Scared yet intrigued Warp allowed Luthor to continue.

"allow me to say first of all that your power sets peaked my curiosity, the very notion of traveling between dimensions holds applications in various fields such as business, scientific progress and even world domination….. all kinds of possibilities for me to exploit really….. or even you."

Warp's curiosity now peaked so he replied with the following.

" I'm listening"

Luthor in a cut and dry manner made is point as clear as possible.

"your entire criminal career you've been treated like a joke, a punching bag, a running gag and so forth but if you'd willingly surrender yourself to this experiment you'd might get the chance to rectify that, you'd no longer be known as a one gimmick bank robber but a threat to multiple earths, universes and perhaps even time lines…. so what do you say?"

Warp now having fully listened to Luthor's pitch could only ask the next logical question.

"first allow me to apologize for not jumping at the opportunity to shake your hand…. more importantly though, what's… how you Americans put it…. the catch, there is always one…"

Luthor sighed to himself before answering.

"it's a shame you're not working for me….. you have such a sharp mind… so allow me to do you a courtesy and cut to the chase… best case scenario you'd wind up lobotomized, worst case scenario ypu'd end up brain dead."

Realizing what had happened Warp, to everyone's surprise, didn't make a fuss, didn't scream, hell, he didn't bat an eyelash, he just stood there quietly before replying.

"in my current predicament I have no choice but to except your magninimous offer on one condition….."

At that Luthor remained silent so Warp may continue.

"make the bitch who got me into said predicament regret ever crossing paths with Warp"

At that Luthor gave a devious smile, turning around and addressing his assistant Mercy Graves.

"prep the subject for immediate dissection."

Mercy Graves gave a silent nod silently saying 'consider it done' while Luthor went to prepare for the procedure, yes he had many surgeons, doctors and physicians on the take however the only one he ever truly trusted was himself. Back in Titans tower the Teen Titans themselves made the necessary preparations in receiving their 'guest', mainly finding a suitable accommodation and an easy yet effective security measure, which was decided on reusing a power dampening cuffs used on them by the criminal organization H.I.V.E.

Titan's tower, interrogation room, around noon.

Night-wing was mentally prepping himself to interrogate Blackfire when Starfire and Kid Flash escorted said 'guest' into the room with Night-wing dismissing them as both continued on their separate way.

"thank you for the royal treatment, I missed it a lot, but you'll be sorry for underestimating my resolve to escape".

To that Night-wing just politely nodded as he got straight to the point.

"dully noted, now why don't we get straight to the point, you telling us what we need to know."

At that Komand'r/Blackfire just grinned while replying.

" I love a man going for the direct approach, especially one who's wearing a mask."

To that Night-wing gave no response and no heed to Blackfire which surprised her a bit stating.

"funny usually I get a reaction out of most men or males in general."

Now it was Night-wing's turn to grin.

"well to your disappointment I'm not most men or males for that matter"

At that stalemate both occupants of the room silently sized each other up waiting for the other to break the silence.

The situation lasted for a few more moments until Night-wing left the room in complete silence causing confusion and bewilderment to appear on Komand'r/Blackfire's face. Stepping towards the kitchen night-wing encountered a cute meet moment between Beast boy and Raven, Raven who was laying down resting on the couch was surprise by Beast boy who decided to sit on the couch next to her feet.

"can I help you with anything?"

Not missing a beat Beast boy went along with the conversation.

"well actually yeah I'm looking for my girlfriend, she's ravened haired, a bit strange at times, definitely shy and introverted and all around beautiful…. have you seen her around lately?…. I terribly miss her."

Raven fainting annoyance replied with.

" I'm right here goofball, what's on your mind…. and don't pretend like there's nothing bothering you."

Beast boy sighed deeply before taking the direct approach.

" I don't know how to say it but you seem more and more aggressive than usual and it makes me worried a bit….. like is there something I can do?"

Raven softened up a bit saying.

"what happens to me can only be described as adolescence kicking into overdrive, so the best thing that you can do is keep being yourself."

Beast boy could only grin at that as he took Raven's hand, kissing it softly as he started planting kisses on her arm just like Gomez Addams on the Addams family that his until Night-wing cleared his throat loudly making Beast boy jump into the ceiling in fear like a cat, morphing coincidentally into one.

"as you were Beast boy."

With that Night-wing headed to the kitchen counters intending on making an omelette as Beast boy slowly but surely climbed down from the ceiling, as he reached the floor near the corridor to the west sleeping quarters the doors suddenly sprung out revealing Cyborg walking in blasting the song Party all the time by Rick James and Eddie Murphy scaring Beast boy yet again up the ceiling. Unaware of what happened Cyborg approached Night-wing in the kitchen who in turn greeted him without looking away from the omelette.

"hey Vic anything new on our mystery lady?"

Cyborg answered in the same direct manner.

"that's a big fat zip Ricky, all I know is that Luthor's involved in one way or another… want me to babysit while you make lunch?"

Night-wing answered while smirking.

"actually this is for her, but I guess a different approach might not be a bad idea so feel free to take a shot."

At this point the omelette was about done so Night-wing grabbed a plate and flipped it over while giving the plate to Cyborg, Cyborg not really pleased with what Night-wing was implying, gave him a funny look to which Night-wing gave him an innocent smile silently asking 'please' to which Cyborg relented, heading to the interrogation room he finally noticed Beast boy trying to climb down the ceiling.

"hey man stop goofing around and get the hell off the ceiling before you leave scratch marks all over it."

Beast boy still in cat form just gave him a hiss before continuing climbing down, having a job to do Cyborg ignored the "rude" remark as he continued towards the interrogation room. Entering the interrogation room Cyborg saw Blackfire trying to play it aloof while registering with a quick scan that the 'guest' was famished.

"thanks for waiting….. lunch is served".

Komand'r/Blackfire, on her best behavior, waited to be served lunch and once the cybernetic young man served it to her, she just stared at it and than at him for a couple of minutes before Cyborg spoke up.

"anything the matter princess?"

Ignoring his mocking tone Komand'r answered.

"some cutlery would be nice for a change."

At that Cyborg only stifled a laugh as he loosened Blackfire's restraints a bit.

" I'm sorry that would be out of the question, we can't risk the possibility of you stabbing us with sharp objects… you'll have to eat with your fingers your highness."

At that Komand'r/Blackfire tried to protest at first but her churning stomach made it impossible for her to resist so she settled for this.

" I'll make it a point to torture you before I'll kill you with my bare hands"

Cyborg in return just grinned silently saying 'anytime anyplace'.

A few minutes later Komand'r/Blackfire finished her meal which gave Cyborg an opening to interrogate her.

"well now that we had our lunch let's get to business, now I know you and Warp were planning to target Luthor, now the only question that remains is why?"

At that Komand'r/ Blackfire started laughing hard answering the question in between laughs.

"if you wanted answers you only had to ask, not waste your time on foolish mind games… now as to why? Simple, I needed leverage over Luthor in order to insure he'd do a small favor for me? Is that all?"

Cyborg nodded a 'no' before continuing.

" how does Warp fit into this?, you could've found any accomplice to join on your suicide run, furthermore where is the creep?"

To that Komand'r/Blackfire leaned in whispering into his ear.

" I'm afraid I can't answer that….." waiting for Cyborg to take the bait Komand'r/Blackfire continued.

"you see that would ruin the surprise I made especially for my dear sister and her adorable little friends."

Listening carefully Cyborg had a realization, an Epiphany if you will, however whether Blackfire picked up on it or not it didn't matter. Taking a few steps back Cyborg excused himself as he exited the interrogation room looking for Night-wing, coming across Beast boy resting on the sofa, the green changeling chimed in.

"hey if you're looking for Dick he's in his office"

Thanking Beast boy he quickly made it to Night-wing's room.

In the meantime in the operating theatre with Lex Luthor.

At the moment Luthor continued operating and probing Warp while the villain on the operating table felt every sharp probe as he twitched and twisted in pain as several portals opened and closed around him while Luthor took notes.

' experiment #23: it has been only a few hours but findings lead me to believe the subject's neurons are responsible for his ability to conjure teleportation portals….. further studies are necessary before Warp's abilities could be weaponize… end log until next finding'

With that Luthor continued with the surgery completely oblivious to Warp's request for anesthetics, until Luthor stopped.

" Mercy… new gloves if you please."

"right away sir".

Now having discarded the set of bloody and messy gloves Luthor went back inside to continue his experiments on Warp, as the hours went by Luthor found more findings and discoveries in regards to his subject, in fact he was about to record a new log when an aggressive gust of wind blew open the door to the operating theatre.

" I was wondering what took you this long."

Outside the doors Superman stood in an authoritive pose is face betraying the anger and outraged he felt, being intensified with every second staring at what was Warp in his current condition.

" I knew you had little regard to human life…. but to actually go this far!?… what have you done?"

In a casual manner, not even stopping his surgery Luthor answered.

"don't act sanctimonious with me alien… what I've done is what human kind does the best…. making progress."

At that Superman walked briskly towards Luthor.

"surrender now unless you want to be judged with full severity for your crimes…"

Luthor only murmured as he probed within Warp's brain.

" I have other plans."

With that a portal opened underneath Superman's feet, catching him by surprise as he fell in while the portal rapidly closed in of itself.

"Mercy take the data I've collected back to Thunder corporation…. in the meantime I'll dispose of our 'guest'….. now hurry we don't have much time before the League will come after us".

In the meantime up above the earth within the confines of the watch tower Batman tried to contact Superman numerous times now but to no avail, so he instead contacted Titans Tower, picking up on the other line was Night-wing.

"well your timing is sharp as ever, I was about to call you."

Batman acknowledging the compliment responded as followed.

"let me guess you called to suggest that Lex Luthor wasn't the target but part of Blackfire's grand scheme"

Night-wing just gave Batman a knowing look and smile while Batman continued the conversation.

"Superman suspected the same thing so he went to confirm it first hand… only to go dark a few minutes ago….. I want you to secure your 'guest' a few more days until the league finds our big gun, think you up for it?"

Night-wing only smirked when he answered.

"if you'd thought otherwise you wouldn't have called…. Night-wing out.

Back at the tower Night-wing quickly turned off his comm as he entered his private bathroom where Starfire was currently taking a long and relaxing shower, grinning to himself mostly he interrupted softly.

"sorry to bother you Star but Cyborg's suspicions just came true, so we'll need all hands on deck."

Starfire not phased by the intrusion turned to face him smiling softly.

"well in that case would you mind help me dry off?"

Grinning now like a madman Night-wing answered silently.

'lucky for you I can't say no.'

As Starfire ended her shower Night-wing quickly swooped in to dry her off doing so with military efficiency, Starfire surprised a bit quickly reacted.

"slowly please I'm gentle."

Smirking like a goof Night-wing quickly started planting kisses on his girlfriend's shoulder answering in between kisses.

"as you wish….."

A little while later in the Teen Titan's ops room.

Raven, Wonder Girl, Beast boy, Kid Flash and Cyborg were currently waiting for Starfire and Night-wing to make an appearance, when the latter teens finally arrived Cyborg spoke up.

"now that the happy couple is finally here….. what's going down?"

Night-wing answered seemingly oblivious to his friend's remark.

"long story short, Blackfire was not working with Warp but merely baited him so that her actual partner in crime, Lex Luthor, could get a hold on him, most likely for his abilities…. in the meantime Superman has disappeared off the face of the earth, which means that whatever happened is a prelude to what's about to happen"

Beast boy getting comically confused just replied with.

"whoa… easy with the mind fucks, my head can't handle much more."

Night-wing answered seriously with a hint of sheepishness.

"sorry… now I want you and Raven to guard the living room while Cyborg gets the new security system up and running with me and Starfire guarding the roof, Wonder Girl you'll be the welcoming committee, while Kid Flash guards Blackfire… any objections?"

No one said anything as each Titan went into position.

Kid Flash ran a security check around the entire tower in a matter of minutes before heading back to Blackfire's 'prison cell' carrying a glass of water, a newspaper and a light snack, with his speed he quickly knocked on the door.

" room service be nice in there and step back"

Phasing through the room he quickly found that Blackfire wasn't in the room but in the guest room's bathroom on the account that he heard the water running, setting down what he carried he hurriedly went to the bathroom door, knocking lightly.

"room service…. I hope you're decent in there."

Waiting for a few moments with no response he phased through the door thinking to himself.

' I better not regret it'

Once on the other side he was further surprised that he saw nothing but steam in the bathroom, only to turn around and meet Blackfire face to face, the latter having escaped her cuffs , grinning madly as she discharged a star bolt directly at his face from point blank range nearly frying him to a crisp, taking advantage of the Speed Force he managed to blurt out.

"you know it's only a matter of time before we'll catch up with you."

Komand'r/Blackfire not impressed simply retorted.

" I'm counting on it"

In the meantime back with Beast boy and Raven.

Beast boy feeling a little impatient after expecting an attack that never came simply asked.

"is it me or nothing hasn't really happened so far?"

Raven, having suspicions of her own tried to tap into her friend's emotional states to make sure that her suspicions were just that….. mere suspicions, she tapped into Beast boy's, Night-wing's, her two female friends and everything checked out fine until she reached Kid Flash's. when she reached his, she felt a burst of agony and uncontrollable pain to such a degree that almost made her faint, luckily Beast boy caught her immediately.

" Raven… what's going on are you hurt… talk to me…."

Raven in a quiet tone just answered back.

"never mind what happened to me….. warn Cyborg, tell him to lock down the tower, she's on the loose and everyone's in danger."

Beast boy, trying not to panic, followed Raven's request whilst she regained some of her strength to teleport to where Kid Flash was last seen.

"Cy….. Cy…. jailbreak, jailbreak…."

Cyborg having heard the screams from the ops room went out to greet the now almost panicking Beast boy stopping him dead in his tracks.

" easy man, take a deep breath and start all over again."

Beast boy apparently not listening ignored his friend's advice.

"screw being calm man, Blackfire broke out of her cell and she took down Kid Flash too…."

Hearing that Cyborg just made a silent expression of 'we're fucked' before activating quickly the emergency protocols, drawing the attention of Starfire, Night-wing, Wonder Girl and… Blackfire.

In the meantime with Blackfire.

Komand'r had managed to critically injure one of the 'jailers' who kept her locked up, managing to escape her 'cell' as well, now however she will have to deal with navigating a maze of corridors in a complex she barely had knowledge about in terms of layout, however being her crude and direct self she opted to gather as much energy as she could, opting to burn a hole in the 'maze's' walls, making a direct path to the exit. Burning a hole large enough to escape from Komand'r/Blackfire made her way flying towards the exit as she was ambushed and tackled by Starfire from her left.

"hitting someone while they're not looking… that's unbecoming of you sister"

Starfire gave a nod before replying.

" I agree sister you do bring out the worst in one's person."

Before Komand'r/Blackfire could retort yet react Starfire tackled her yet again, driving her out of the tower and into the open sea and air.

"foolish little girl, you should've taken me out where there is no direct sunlight"

Starfire at that immediately replied.

"oh dear sister, you seem to forget whatever you can do… I can do better"

At that just down below, a portal opened between Titan's tower, which from Lex Luthor came out in his green and purple mech suir, leading troops of hired soldiers and mercenaries.

"your chariot awaits my lady"

Komand'r/Blackfire gave a silent look saying.

'it's about time'

However before she could make her retreat she would have to deal with her little sister and her friends, who at this point were engaging in combat with Lex Luthor and his mercenary soldiers. As the two rivaled sister started to fight it became an impressive display of fire works as each star bolt narrowly grazing both of their faces that is until somehow time began to slow down all around the tower. In this point in time a streak of red and yellow rapidly made short work of the mercenaries, setting his sights on Blackfire.

"hello ladies… mind if I cut in?"

Kid Flash, now positively indentified as alive and kicking delivered a solid punch, after catapulting himself mid air, connecting with Blackfire's jaw sending her a few meters towards the ground before free falling towards the earth being caught at the last moment by Starfire.

"Kid Flash though I very much welcome your assistance, that was a personal matter between family"

Not even slightly bothered Kid Flash replied with.

"well in my defense she made it personal when she tried searing my flesh like a well done steak."

Hearing that Starfire dropped off Kid Flash safely on the ground before going after Komand'r/Blackfire with a renewed sense of purpose fueled by righteous fury all in the meantime Blackfire got herself back up on her feet and made her retreat towards the portal, being quickly followed by Luthor and a few mercenaries who were lucky not to tangle with the Teen Titans.

" I think not dear sister."

With that Starfire collided with Blackfire sending them both through the portal while the rest of the Teen Titans being preoccupied in battle in order to go after her before the portal collapsed on itself, Night-wing being the most frustrated of them all. With this he addressed one of the mercenaries unfortunate enough to be left behind.

"looks like your current employer left you high and dry…. so much for basic loyalty"

The mercenary only replied with the following.

"so what?…. is this the part I spill my guts out to you?"

Raven at this point cut into the conversation.

" not him… to me"

With that Raven conjured up her own portal disappearing with the mercenary in tow leaving Night-wing to address the team.

"in the meantime Titans prepare to depart we're going after Starfire, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash, call the reserve members, you two are in charge of the tower when we are away."

With that Night-wing went inside the tower grimacing.

An undisclosed Luthor testing site.

Emerging from the portal were Lex Luthor, what remained of the mercenary forces that came with him, Blackfire and a plus one, that being Starfire of course, though the violently crashed as opposed to emerge as Starfire clearly still struggled with her sister.

"surrender…"

But before she could continue the sentence she was struck on the back of her head by Luthor.

" you're welcome."

Komand'r got off the ground dusting herself before issuing an order.

"tell your lapdogs to cage her within a room devoid of natural light….. it should keep her weak and vulnerable."

A few minutes have passed and Starfire/Koryand'r regained consciousness from the blow finding herself in a confined cell with little to no light pouring in leaving her to rely on her hearing for now, with that said she recognized someone coming in towards her.

"who is it!?…. identify yourself"

The mystery visitor did just that.

' a shame really one should recognize one's family'

Starfire/Koryand'r conserved her strength not bothering with replying at all which got Blackfire mad, however she didn't snap or at least didn't show it outright.

' well I see you haven't changed little one, now if you'll excuse me I must prepare for battle your little friends will no doubt try and come to your rescue'

At that Starfire got up and made her way to the cell's door, replying as follows.

" if you harm them in anyway please take note that I will hunt you down and make you pay for your actions by any means necessary."

At that Blackfire/Komand'r started to laugh for a good couple of minutes before settling down, answering back.

' I know you too well little one and you are too weak to carry out threats of this magnitude…. on a different note, speak our language dear sister, this earthly maggots don't deserve us acknowledging their primitive culture.'

With that Blackfire/Komand'r left not before saying.

' oh I almost forgot I've relieved you of your communicator.'

Speaking of communication by the time Night-wing had managed to update Batman on the recent developments Raven came into Night-wing view with an update on where Luthor and Blackfire current position.

Inside the Titans plane, in route to Luthor's location.

Night-wing still pissed at what happened, pissed at himself moreover, was currently seated next to Cyborg who flew the aircraft but still sharp enough to notice the angry tactician.

"something's eating at you man?"

Night-wing sighing deeply just answered.

" well let's see I goofed up like I've never goofed up since I was Robin, not to mention my goof up got a teammate captured and to add more salt to the wound it's not just any other teammate, it's my girlfriend and the love of my life…. other than that everything's bloody peachy"

Cyborg just shook Night-wing's shoulder a bit before ruffling his hair a bit.

"now that you've vented we got a lady to save and a few asses that needs kicking."

Night-wing broke into a small grin asking.

"say got any bubblegum in here?"

Cyborg at that just broke into a big smile saying.

"as a matter of fact I do so help yourself."

Beast boy just came in between them saying.

" got any mint flavor? I've got a bad case of bad breath lately."

Cyborg disturbed and a bit annoyed with Beast boy's off putting remark disguised his next remark with cynicism.

" why don't you step outside Greengo?, some fresh air would do you good."

Beast boy didn't bother to reply,he instead went to the back and kept quiet for a few seconds before the air pressure in the cabin went down for a few seconds before it stabilized yet again with Night-wing now giving a questioning stare towards Cyborg.

" well in my defense I didn't think he would take it this literal."

A few minutes went by and by this point Raven and Night-wing were expecting to see a green eagle or a seagull to fly by but to their surprise no such bird flew passed them. A few moments later and still no sign from Beast boy which worried Night-wing and Raven a bit so both decided to look out the window for their green teammate, the sight that awaited them was a green spider monkey doing circus acts on the wings of the plane like in a certain section of a very specific movie. Catching the joke Night-wing gave a stare that said 'get back inside' while flipping him off, as for Raven?, she went to the side trying to contain a genuine laugh. In the meantime back at the undisclosed site Komand'r/Blackfire stared at the approaching unidentified aircraft c oming from a monitor and started laughing audibly but softly, Luthor who stood by next to her silently required to be let in on the joke.

"it has been a long time since I enjoyed the feeling of certain victory."

Luthor having been no stranger to this routine had this to contribute.

" don't assume victory until the very last second of it."

Komand'r/Blackfire had only this to reply.

"don't suggest I'm vulnerable to human faults, now follow the plan as instructed and lure them in."

With that Luthor's personel have started to wrap things up in minutes as the Teen Titans made their approach. Once on the roof the Teen Titans disembarked as Night-wing addressed his friends.

"sharp eyes, we're here on a rescue and retrieval mission."

Beast boy in a serious yet somewhat carefree attitude replied back.

" believe me we got this besides it's been easy so far."

Night-wing continued with a counter.

"that's just the thing it's too damn easy so please stay alert"

With that Beast boy went quiet for a few moments opting to pat Night-wing on the shoulder silently saying ' sure thing pal'. with that Raven phased the Teen Titans into the facility only to reemerge into what can only be described as a labyrinth. Not wasting a single moment Beast boy turned into a green silver back gorilla in an attempt to knock down the wall only for the walls to knock him down, giving him a splitting headache.

"enough monkey business let's find a way out of here"

Beast boy got himself up and sorted before whispering to Raven.

"Raven darling I love ya but that was a lousy joke to make"

Raven only response was.

"that's okay, coming from you I'm sure that's a compliment"

Unbeknownst to them they were secretly being watched and studied by Blackfire, lurking in the maze along with them, waiting for the right moment to strike them down.

In the meantime in a hidden helicopter hanger in the facility Luthor was getting ready to leave the base as Mercy Graves addressed him.

"while I'm not in the habit of questioning you sir, are you sure it's wise to leave the homicidal alien bimbo unattended, or better yet kill her before she slaughter us all?"

Luthor focusing on his escape answered.

"believe me I have no intention to let a filthy alien try and come after my life but there's one other person I'm wary of his wrath.

Mercy Graves was about to ask what he meant but before she could open her mouth a silhouette came out of the shadows knocking her out cold before moving in on Luthor himself, that silhouette was none other than Batman.

" I was wondering what kept you…."

Batman cut him however mid sentence with a threatening whisper to his tone.

" tell me how to bring him back and I'll make your time in prison more tolerable."

Luthor having no intention to take on Batman in a one on one fight answered accordingly.

" why sure my goal was not to kill him, this time, just to get him out of the way for long enough for Komand'r's plan to work."

Batman lifted him by the collar of his shirt with only this response.

"elaborate….."

Back with the Teen Titans Night-wing had already pretty much figured out the way out of the labyrinth as he raced to rescue Starfire while in the meantime leaving 'breadcrumbs' for his friends to follow.

' think Richard think damn it… where Kory can be… let's see other than relying on emotions for her source of strength she needs the sun to recharge herself right? So she must be well isolated from any light source.'

Night-wing getting out of the maze he was in had two options, scour the facility from top to bottom or find someone to turn to his side and getting a glimpse of an approaching mercenary the choice made himself clear to him. Running up towards the soldier Night-wing gave him a swift kick to the knee disarming him of his weapons before twisting the soldier's arm interrogating him in the process.

"tell me where she is and you might walk away with your limbs intact."

Back with the rest of the Teen Titans who managed to pick up Night-wing's 'breadcrumbs' only for the walls to start shifting, changing the layout of the labyrinth completely, splitting the team in the process.

"sure god laugh at us more why don't ya"

Before Beast boy could say anymore or do anything else he saw one of Warp's portals open up, looking around in confusion and a state of alert he failed to see Blackfire hitting the back of his neck before lifting him up and throwing him through the portal.

'one down another three to go'

Raven at this point sensing what happened to Beast boy and sensing Blackfire's aura had only this to say.

"a sneak attack won't work on me so come out and face me."

At this particular time another portal opened up while Blackfire showed up next to it.

"what have you done with Beast boy?… answer me"

Blackfire unimpressed just answered in a matter of fact manner.

"he's just beyond that portal, I would hurry if you wish to save him."

Raven being the most logical next to Night-wing but number one skeptic of the team stood there motionless while secretly trying to pry into Blackfire's mind to see what she's actually up to, however that was a mistake because the minute she tried that Raven was assaulted with images of Blackfire's sexual escapades, loosing her cool and being visibly disoriented Blackfire rushed her punching her in her ribs before grabbing the girl by the cowl and throwing her into the now closing portal.

'now to find the cripple'.

' I always hated surprises ever since I was a kid… especially in the dark where I can't see them coming.'

Cyborg went on ahead trying to navigate the newly reformed labyrinth using a built in GPS, flash lights that came out of his shoulders like Lamborghini headlights and a new and improve sonic cannon, adopting a strategy where he would rotate 360 degrees every few meters made him feel safe as he kept moving forward, however he failed to take one thing into account, the ceiling starting to come down on him like a car crusher.

' you gotta be fucking with me'

Having no time to lose Cyborg made his way trough the labyrinth running only to reach the exit a few yards away, dashing towards it he failed to notice a warp hole opening up from behind him as he was heading on a collision course with Blackfire but before he could react to her she lifted her arm blasting him square in the chest pushing back enough to fall through the warp hole. As Night-wing made it to Starfire's holding cell he produced a small explosion which freed Starfire from captivity, asking where the rest of the team were Night-wing attempted to contact them.

"Titans come in….. I've got Starfire back to us, how far away are you?… please respond…"

Before he knew what was happening Starfire got tackled and sent a few meters away from him before being hit himself once with a knee to his and an elbow to his upper back both causing him a lot of pain. He managed to remain conscious long enough to see a portal being opened before Blackfire unceremoniously throwing him in, a few moments later Starfire/Koryand'r came stumbling in with a mixture of fury and sadness filling her eyes.

"don't worry little one, your lover is alive and well… mostly….. unfortunate for you however you won't get the chance to reunite with him or your little friends ever again."

Surprisingly little Koryand'r didn't break down and cry like Komand'r anticipated she will instead Starfire found renewed strength and went on the attack, sending several star bolts at her sister, which she narrowly escaped before the sisters locked arms with one another in an attempt to dominate each other in a one on one fight.

"you will make sure my friends are back here and unharmed and you will leave this planet alone for all eternity less I'll be tempted to take drastic measures like killing you."

Komand'r at that just started laughing uncontrolablely before replying.

"first of all I've got too many duties and obligations to play around with you little one, second we both know you don't have the resolve to kill a family member and lastly I taught you everything you know."

At that Starfire just smirked as she headbutted her sister straight on the nose sending her a few feet backwards before replying.

"that I learned from my beloved"

Komand'r having regained her footing just straightened her nose back in to place before deciding that sticking around won't do her any favors, so she made her escape as Starfire tried to pursue her before collapsing from exhaustion, she was about to hit the ground however Batman caught her just in time. A few hours passed by since Starfire collapse from exhaustion, when she came through though she found herself resting on a chair with dark teal like cloth covering her body, recognizing it as Batman's cape she woke up just in time to see Batman walking up to her with a warm drink and a warm lunch in toe.

" am I in the famous Bat cave?"

Batman only gave a slight nod as he handed her the drink and warm meal, finishing both rather quickly she tried to get up saying.

" I do not wish to be rude but I have to find my sister and save my friends"

Batman broke his silence by saying.

" first of all you're not well rested, second you will not go alone on this and certainly not without a plan in mind"

Having no intention to argue with Batman Starfire just replied quietly and respectfully.

" I do not wish to sound ungrateful or out of place but if I did not hesitate all my life in the first place non of the events that took place would have come to pass"

Batman at this point removed his cowl and met Starfire on the same eye level.

" would you believe me if I say that I know that feeling all too well?…. not a single day goes by that I'm not feeling angry at myself for freezing up when my parents were gunned down right next to me…. then again I have to remind myself that I was an eight year old boy when that happened"

At that Starfire could only respond with.

"may I hug this eight year old boy?… I want to tell him very much he's not alone"

Batman just rested his hand on Starfire's shoulder quietly saying.

'he knows'

**Next chapter: Let the adventure between worlds begins.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 04: **In service of the crown

**D****isclaimer: **** i own none of the ****following I.P's, i only own the scenarios i've thrown them into. **

A few hours have passed thought inside the Bat cave no one will notice as Starfire instead of needlessly worry herself on her friend's fate decided to track Komand'r's progress as Batman tried to reverse engineer Luthor's portal tech to save Superman and the rest of the Teen Titans in toe, Alfred in the meantime kept company to the young lady offering a helping hand whenever is necessary. Starfire without looking away from the monitors addressed Batman.

" sir Batman, Blackfire making her approach towards the Gordanian ship, I request permission to pursue her before she leaves this solar system."

Batman sighing just responded with no hint of emotion.

"request denied, however you do have permission to do whatever is necessary to stall and delay her escape"

Starfire at that started flying out of the cave not before giving Bruce/Batman a soft hug and a kiss on his cheek, Alfred amused by the display just gave a small grin before Batman giving him a stern look that said 'don't even go there'.

With Komand'r on board the Gordanian Warship .

Komand'r having no desire to spend flying home bound exhausting her strength staged a full frontal assault on her former associates and current traitors, she began killing soldier after soldier until she made her way towards the Gordanian warlord, the one she scarred to make a point

" is this a way to greet an old friend?"

Before he could even answer Komand'r unleashed a devastating star bolt towards his head in such intensity that his head exploded from it's heat, leaving Komand'r alone to navigate the ship which made her ponder.

' if lowly merchants can pilot this vessel surely it would be not difficult for one of royal blood'.

' there was a time when I'd let my emotions get the better of me, when I would be bothered by others first impressions of me… if to be honest it still bothers me a bit, however I've learned that sometimes duty overwrites one's emotion and my mission now was to stop Komand'r from escaping.'

As Starfire flew through the skies and beyond the atmosphere she made sure to contact Wonder Girl and by extension the rest of the current active members of the Teen Titans.

" Donna thank goodness you answered Night-wing, Cyborg, Raven and Beast boy have all disappeared, to where I don't know…."

Wonder Girl didn't interrupt as Starfire continued.

" to add insult to injury Blackfire is attempting to escape the Earth's solar system… could you relay the message to whoever can lend a hand that I need a small group to give Blackfire chase?"

Wonder Girl answered accordingly.

"way a head of you… I'm sending Kid Flash with Hawk and Dove after you… just don't do something rash while you're up there"

Starfire just gave a playful nod quietly saying 'why I'd never think of doing such a thing' before she continued on making visual contact with the Gordanian's warship.

' I hope damaging the ship's engines isn't too rash'

Meanwhile with Night-wing on an undisclosed location in an unknown time zone.

Night-wing feeling an overwhelming headache coming on found himself on what appears to be on a remote island, miles from anything resembling civilization, clearing his mind he tried to assess where he was. As Night-wing began to walk along the shoreline he began to make a few observations, the first, he noticed quite a few fishing boats mooring on the beach itself along with fishing nets which let him deduce that wherever he is, it must be near a small town by the sea, maybe a fishing village, secondly, his attire for better or worse stuck out like a sore thumb especially against the current setting. He chose to remove his gauntlets and mask neatly placing them in his pants pockets, as for his shirt?, well being him he simply took it off only to flip it from withing revealing that his shirt was double sided, very much like in classic spy thrillers, now that he thought about it.

' maybe that's my luck….. landing right in the midst of a Bond flick'

As he kept walking for a few more minutes he noticed finally a sign of life from a distance. By the looks of it, it was an older man, late 20's early 30's, fairly tall, 5'8 in rough estimate, raven haired, well built, however the most curious thing about him was an unreadable expression which he wore on his face and the fact that he was standing on the shoreline just where the sea met the sand.

"you know it's mighty rude of you to stare….. are you lost?"

Richard a bit amazed that the man spotted him decided against testing the man's patience and walked towards him nodding a ' yes' in the process continuing the conversation.

" are you lost in thoughts?"

The man gave a small knowing smirk before replying.

"well it most certainly was a busy day on my hand mister…"

That gave Richard the cue to introduce himself.

" Gray… Richard Gray and you?"

The man returned the favor.

"Bond…. James Bond."

Surprisingly when Richard heard that famous name being introduced in that famous manner he didn't overreact or gasped he just politely shook the man's hand.

" well it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Bond, now if you don't mind I'll leave you alone with your thoughts for a while longer while I make my way back into town.".

Being pleasant Bond replied back.

"nonsense, it's actually refreshing to have company every once in a while"

Out of shear politeness Richard replied.

"well I can't refuse a kind offer in good conscious but before we go I'd like to rest for a little bit I've been walking around for a while since I got here"

Mr. Bond having no problem with that gave Richard a curt nod while Richard layed down under the shade of a leaning fishing boat, leaving Mr. Bond to his pondering. Meanwhile on the hill just above the shoreline a dark Alfa Romeo Montreal was pulling along side the Aston Martin Vantage, Out of the Montreal a mysterious figure accompanied with yet another mysterious associate, the man made his way towards Bond while the associate went to the trunk of the car and fished out a hunting rifle, aiming it directly at Bond's head, in the meantime the man walking towards Bond cocked a 9mm Barreta hiding it on his person as he approached closer and closer, unaware that Richard was watching in tense anticipation for him to make his next move.

"may I help you with anything mister…."

The mysterious man cut him off rather rudely.

" Ms. Fiona Volpe sends her regards."

Bond unfazed by what was about to happen replied as followed.

"haven't heard that name in a while, would you be so kind as to send back my regards for me?"

As the now unnamed goon reached for his un trying to open fire Bond intercepted the arm holding the gun making the goon tossing it away while Bond gave hima right cross to the face instigating a brawl. Richard being on high alert seemingly got out of the way leaving the impression that e was deserting the fight, however it was far from the truth, he scanned the beach for make shift weapons having a hunch that the goon was not alone, catching a shimmer from a distance his hunch was proven correct. As the second shooter tried to open fire on Richard, the young man in question kept moving swiftly making the bullets miss and once he got closer Richard picked up a small rock and threw it at the assailant making him loose his grip from the rifle before Richard made a few flips landing his feet on the assailant's face rendering him unconscious, turning to see how Bond was doing he saw the goon that attacked bond lying down facing head first into the sea unresponsive while Bond muttered to himself in disappointment.

"history repeating…."

Richard made his way to Bond asking.

"Deja vu?"

Bond Straightening himself up as best as he could answered as followed.

" in a manner of speaking, a similar scenario occurred as I met Tracy for the first time."

"let me guess Tracy was someone very close to you?"

Bond at this point got gravely quiet as he reached for his Walther PPK , after noticing in the corner of his eye the goon on the hill regaining consciousness and slowly reaching for the rifle causing Bond to turn around and gunning down the goon as the bullet made impact with the rifle's scope hitting a bullseye at the goons eye, causing Richard to turn in surprise as Bond answered.

"Tracy was more than just close to me, she was my better half"

At first Richard wanted to snap at Bond out of instinct however he quickly reminded himself that this was not id world and the rules he followed mattered little so instead he quietly stated.

"that's a shame…. a few more minutes with them and they could have told us a lot more"

Bond examined the expression on the young man's face before replying.

" it wouldn't have done any good."

Richard at that cocked his eyebrow in a questioning manner as Bond broke one of the goon's maulers to reveal a small capsule.

"cyanide".

A few minutes later, in the Aston Martin Vantage, on the way to the airport.

As Bond drove Richard to the airport a question formed in his head.

"have you got a place to go back to?"

Richard nodded no to that question leading Bond to open up his glove compartment fishing out a set of house keys.

"here I'm giving you the keys to my flat, please take them just until you get back on your feet."

Richard was about to protest when Bond elaborated further.

"please I insist you take them, my job description requires me to constantly be on the move"

With that Richard accepted the generous offer as both reached the airport safely.

In the meantime back in the Bat cave.

Bruce Wayne/ Batman after much trial and errors finally pinpointed Superman's location, firing up the device he opened the portal allowing Superman to return home.

"welcome back"

Superman being used to Batman's spartan use of vocabulary responded with the following.

"sorry I didn't get you a souvenir trust me you wouldn't want one from where I've been, now what did I miss and what I'm missing now?"

Batman on cue brought up the Bat cave's monitors to life after linking up to a live satellite feed showing Starfire attacking the Gordanian warship, filling in what can't be shown.

" in addition the reserve Titan members are on their way to assist while the core Titans have vanished similarly to you while I keep working to find them"

Superman's only response was a silent look that said 'don't worry I got them covered' before flying off out of the Bat cave, Leaving Batman alone once more.

Soaring through the skies and into the Stratosphere Superman caught up with Starfire in a matter of seconds.

" hello there neighbor, need a hand?"

Starfire glad to see Superman just waved at him as she tried making her way to Blackfire's current whereabouts.

" I am most fine thank you, remain here to assist the Titans in stalling Blackfire she must not be allowed to escape back to Tamaran."

As she said it she made her way inside the breached war ship as Superman remained behind to destroy what remained of the ship's engines without having it lose stability, sending it on a crash course with the earth.

As Starfire moved on ahead deep into the war ship her first instincts were to look for survivors, yes even though that by all logic those survivors were her sworn enemy however as she further made her way inside the ship she noticed that Komand'r has spared none of them. As she tried to contain the horror she felt within her Komand'r/Blackfire saw her arrival as nothing more than expected so she in advance made sure to hide her presence from her younger sister as she crept from behind her waiting for the opportunity to strike from behind, surprisingly though Starfire was alerted to her presence at the very last moment and caught Komand'r's arm before a strike to the back of the head could be made.

" so you finally learned to anticipate my moves…. I'm impressed."

Starfire feeling emboldened retorted the following.

"don't be you are becoming predictable."

Giving a wry grin Komand'r/ Blackfire taunted her silently saying 'predict this' before closing the gap between them kissing her on the mouth before knocking her out with a punch to the throat.

"you were always too naive for your own good…. now to find someone who can actually aid my escape…."

In the meantime in the T plane with the reserve Titans on board.

"can anyone tell me how we're going to breath in outer space let alone fight a crazy royal bitch?"

Hank Hall know as Hawk asked no one in particular still expecting an answer, a few seconds later Kid Flash answered.

"first of all we're not fighting in space but inside a spaceship, you know where there is air pressure, secondly we're not fighting this royal bitch head on we're stalling her long enough so someone else could kick her ass for us, capiche?"

At that Hawk gave Kid Flash a small grin and a thumbs up silently saying 'got ya'

Meanwhile as the rest of the Teen Titans made their way towards the Gordanian war ship Richard Grayson being stuck in the parallel dimension for about a month was ready to embark on a mission of his own given to him by the head of British intelligence , MI6, M.

As Richard woke up at about 4:00 am one morning for an early jog and a recon patrol of London, he brewed himself coffee as the doorbell begun ringing making Richard think.

'who could be up at this kind of hour'

As he answered the door he met face to face with a person whom he had a vague recollection of who he was, the man was an older gentleman, about mid 60's, squared built with a face that conveyed a gruff, reliable, no-nonsense demeanor yet his eyes radiated sincere kindness and as he spoke a clear droll manner could be detected as well.

"good morning am I speaking with Richard Gray by any chance?"

Richard nodding a yes offered him to come in which the man took in kind as he briskly stepped inside, prompting Richard to ask.

"may I take your coat…."

M answered in a dead pan manner.

"no thank you I won't be staying long, and you can refer to me as Sir Messervy as if you so choose".

Richard not one to mince words got straight to the point.

" allow me to brew you a cup of coffee at least while we discuss further your reasons for being here."

At this point Sir Messervy just gave him a small inquiring look wondering how he knew before hand there was a reason for him being here.

Richard picked up on that so he further elaborated.

" deductive reasoning sir… you see I grew up having discipline instilled to me from a young age so I can read a militaristic mind set when I encounter one, plus logic dictates that a man, a stranger at that wouldn't have payed me a visit at four o'clock in the morning just for idle chit chat and a cup of coffee."

Slightly amused Sir Messervy continued with a business as usual kind of manner.

" well since you put it so eloquently I did come with a purpose in mind, I want you to track the whereabouts of MI6 agent 007."

Richard ask the only logical question that could follow.

"you suspect he's in some kind of trouble?"

Sir Messervy answered in a deadpan manner.

" I'm suspecting he's causing them."

At that Richard didn't answer, instead he went into the kitchen for a while before coming back with a couple of coffee cups serving one to Sir Messervy.

"thank you very much".

As the two men took a sip from their coffees Richard replied the following.

"now as for your answer Sir… consider it done"

Pleased to hear that Sir Messervy laid the coffee aside fishing out a small business card.

"excellent report to this address within the hour."

Richard gave him a small grin silently saying ' I suspect you knew the answer in advance'.

Within the hour Richard has made his way to the specified address, a modest looking office building with a receptionist at the main entrance, light brown haired, early to mid forties.

"good morning sir, we've been expecting you please take he elevator to the basement level."

Having done just that Richard was now riding down to the basement when the elevator doors opened up into a garage/workshop which rivaled Cyborg's very own. Taking a tour around the place he came across scientists and technicians working on various gadgets and devices such as a wrist watch being converted to a powerful magnet and a miniature chain saw, a motorcycle being converted into a jet propulsion light aircraft and a Lotus Esprit being chopped up and redesigned into a submarine. Aloof to what was being presented to him he instead started focusing on the table in front of him having noticed that under a bunch of different blueprints laid a small comic book, skimming over it Richard came across familiar names to him.

'Robin… Batman…. Cat-woman…. it seems in this world we're the fictional characters.'

Right next to Richard an elderly man stood next to him with a face that expressed both impatience, tolerance and world weariness, he identified the man immediately as James Bond's quartermaster or simply known as Q.

" interesting choice for reading materials".

Q immediately responded.

"funny coming from an American…"

Seeing that Richard was preoccupied with another matter he further continued.

" please try to pay attention…. it's already troubling enough that 007 never does, I dread to think of what would happen if his behavior would become contagious"

Smirking a little Richard replied simply with.

"you may not concern yourself…. now as you were saying?"

Q rather pleasantly surprised that the young man was paying attention continued on.

" well as instructed by M I've arranged a few items for your journey."

At this point he fished out said few items and handed them over to Richard which he began inspecting.

" a set of car keys and a plane ticket to…. Corsica…..?"

At that Q remembered he forgot something and handed him a dossier which Richard began skimming through.

"inside you'll find all of the essential details for your mission now off you go"

Richard was about to leave before he remembered something that was on his mind.

" a couple of questions, one why entrust a civilian to carry such an important mission and second….." now at this point Richard was looking at the keys resting in his hands, Q answered as follows.

"rest assured we do not see you as a Richard Thornhill, we're not that cruel, we needed an outsider to keep a low profile in case the current situation 007 has gotten himself into becomes a scandal to the British nation…. I'm sure you can understand, and as for your second question that will be your transportation to Heathrow airport, it's a light red Mini Mark III you can't miss it. With that Richard made his way out of the workshop and into his newly acquired car off to his next destination.

Speaking of destination, the reserve Titans team consisting of Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Hawk and Dove have arrived to the Gordanian war ship and after a brief exchange with Superman, have already boarded and have now commenced looking for Starfire and looking out for Blackfire. As the team made it further inside so were the toll of corpses gradually increasing which meant that by this point the team were now stepping inside Gordanian's entrails.

" I swear to god if the rest of the Titans are vacationing in another world right now I'll kill them the moment they step foot back home…"

Kid Flash rebutted Hawk's comment with.

" first of all you know those guys won't do this to us and secondly you won't kill them because you'll need them to pick up the cleaning bill"

Dove groaning a bit from the comments but mostly from the stench concluded the conversation with.

"will you two focus?"

Both of them gave a sheepish look silently asking forgiveness as Wonder Girl in the meantime found Starfire just as she came to after Blackfire's surprise attack.

" Donna?… have you found Blackfire yet?"

Wonder Girl nodded from side to side saying no as Starfire continued talking.

"gather the rest I strongly suspect she's trying to escape either by an escape pod or plans to steal our ship to do so"

Wonder Girl answered confidently.

"well she'll have to go through us first."

" do not flatter yourselves you are hardly a challenge."

At that everyone went on the defense as Blackfire swooped in blasting Dove square in the chest with a powerful Star bolt while back handing Hawk straight in the jaw before facing directly Kid Flash.

" say didn't I kill you before?"

Amused Kid Flash answered.

"tried and failed you mean….."

Hearing that made Blackfire enraged enough to warrant a thrashing of Kid Flash with her bare hands so she opted to combat him hand to hand sending a few punches his way, which he expertly dodged sending a few rapid ones of his own and vice versa that is until Blackfire's arms have been caught in Wonder Girl's Lasso, however Blackfire quickly countered with dragging her for a spin flying around the ship at ultra high speeds until Wonder Girl began to lose conciseness .

'she will do'

With that Blackfire made lip contact with the unconscious Wonder Girl before tossing her aside opting to head outside to find an escape vehicle. In the meantime Hawk and Dove got their barrings together before Helping Starfire head outside the warship first.

" please don't I have to stop her….."

Hawk replied with.

"we know… we're not retreating we're just stepping outside so you can solar recharge"

Starfire was amazed that Hawk and Dove knew her so well as Hawk flashed her a grin silently saying.

' I have my moments'

As to Blackfire's current whereabouts , at the moment she was given chase by Kid Flash and Wonder Girl after 'waking up' from her 'unscheduled nap'. running around all over the war ship Blackfire tried a few time to break through the windows trying to get outside to where the Titan's ship was currently lying in wait, however each time she found an opening either Wonder Girl or Kid Flash would run interference, not to mention that creating Star bolts in succession took a toll on her.

' pests….'

At this point Blackfire's patience wore out as she decided to charge forward and let the vacuum of space to take it's toll on her two pursuers, directing a concentrated blast towards the ship's haul Blackfire created an opening while Kid Flash and Wonder Girl following close behind over shot her as both got dragged by the air pressure dropping as Blackfire made her quick escape but before it could have spelled doom for the two young heroes they were saved by Superman.

"Superman!, she's getting away."

Fainting insult Superman replied.

"no she isn't I thought you trusted me better than that."

Both Kid Flash and Wonder Girl rolled their eyes as they silently said 'we do'

While in the meantime Hawk and Dove helped Starfire to the nearest exit just in time to spot Blackfire and give her chase as the older sister entered the Titan's ship. As Blackfire made her way to the ship she entered the vessel and fired it up with the information stolen from Wonder Girl only to find Starfire quickly making her way, blocking the entrance.

" I do believe it's customary on earth to ask for your license and registrations"

Not in the mood to stomach her insufferable sister Blackfire opted to attack her on sight.

In the meanwhile Richard arrived in Corsica and as per instructed in the briefing made his way to the destination provided, the current whereabouts of one Marc -Ange Draco. Heading inside he noticed that the place was a modest looking warehouse with a few business offices located close to the sea, he also noticed a few burly men walking around the premises, no doubt "extra" security, having no other plan he decided on the direct approach.

" morning gentleman, I'm here to see mister Draco I'm an old family acquaintance."

The men not believing him stood their ground to which Richard sadly thought.

' well I tried to be polite…. now I'll have to be convincing'

Before he could do anything though a middle aged men with shades of gray on his sideburns came to greet him, or more precisely, judging by his stiff yet steadfast stance deliver a message.

" young man… my men have you surrounded so even if by chance you manage to rough them up a bit it still won't grant you an audience with me unless you'd care to join me for brunch."

Richard relaxed a little as he straightened himself out.

"something tells me I can't refuse your offer, lead the way."

At that the older gentleman now identified as Draco visibly relaxed as he led Richard inside.

A few minutes later over brunch, Draco's villa.

" so young man, you said a family acquaintance sent you but I've never met you in my life… please introduce yourself."

With an apologetic and a respectful tone Richard did just that.

"well my name is Richard Gray, how do you do?, I'm an acquaintance of your former son-in-law, he has gone missing for a while and I was tasked with finding him"

At that Draco gave a knowing smile before answering as follows.

" MI6 probably can't track his movements but I however may have an idea….."

Richard a bit confused asked the only logical question.

" and you're not telling anyone because?"

Draco at that go up from the table and turned his back to Richard while answering.

" that should be obvious…. he's on a quest for justice… a quest for redemption, going after the animales who killed my poor little daughter….."

Noticing his quiet and restrained sobs Richard got up as well and walked to stand right along besides him.

" I know the feeling all too well, I've experienced a similar loss…. an animal took my family away from me as well."

Draco relaxing a bit continued the conversation.

" have you found the justice you deserved?"

Richard gave a sad smile saying.

" I'm still working on it….. the only solace I find his knowing that my family's memory isn't tainted by the blood of the animal responsible… please tell me where Bond is, for his sake and Teresa's."

Seeing the sincerity in Richard's eyes Draco gave a genuine smile before replying.

" I see M chose wisely yet again….. Bond has been here about a week ago before departing to Switzerland… if you hurry you might catch up with him….. now allow me to arrange your travel accommodation… I insist."

After letting Draco take care of the travel accommodation Richard got back to the Mini Mark III setting off towards Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport, while on the road he noticed he picked up a tail, a dark four door Sedan following behind him for more than a third of the way, sure the driver tried to be discrete with his driving, however Richard was too smart for that.

'better let them follow me for a little while… no sense of making a scene on the highway'

With that in mind he made his way to the airport in record time having made his way through security inside always keeping in mind to let his escort follows him just fine, he made it to the ticket counter striking a conversation with the desk clerk.

"good afternoon one ticket to Bern Switzerland please?"

The clerk replied in kind as Richard fished out a passport courtesy of her Majesty's secret service as he in turn took his ticket afterwards heading for the departure gate still being followed by the stalker from the dark sedan only to disappear into the crowd near the cafe and Duty free area, the figure tried to find his target only for Richard to sneak up behind him, grabbing him in a choke hold.

"who are you working for?"

The figure replied rather in a panicked state.

" I work for Draco…. he told me to make sure you arrived safely to your destination."

Richard to be on the safe side checked his stalker if he had a gun only to come across a ring with the image of an octopuss imbeded in it, knowing enough the man was lying Richard knocked him out cold before dragging him to a nearby coffee table, positioning him in a sitting position as a security guard walked on by.

" officer, my friend over there had enough excitement for one day…. make sure he doesn't go anywhere any time soon"

Meanwhile in Bern Switzerland James bond made his way towards the Swiss alps where Ernest Starvo Blofeld's research and base of operations, well one of them anyway used to stand with a simple goal in mind, find Irma Bunt, Blofeld's second in command and get Justice for his wife at all cost. Arriving as close as he could get to the remains of the base Bond began surveing the area for leads, landing his eyes on the goons who drove the car involved in the fated drive by, holding his rage he decided to follow them around hoping that they would unwittingly lead him to either Blofeld or Ms. Bunt, however as he followed them through most of the day they led him to a local pub.

Switzerland,Bern, earlier in the day.

As Richard arrived to his designated airport he began pondering to himself as he absentmindedly got out of the airport and got into his Mark III Mini.

'if I was Bond where would I start… probably in a local pub…'

As he set off on his drive he began frequenting the local pubs and diners along side Bern until he spotted the Aston Martin Vantage trailing a dark sedan around town, acting quickly he followed the Aston Martin around until it stopped, as Richard tried to get out though Bond tapped on the passenger window of the Mini as Richard rolled down the window.

"go home Richard, what I am about to part take in you can't be a part of."

Smiling knowingly Richard replied with.

" I'm sorry commander but I too have my orders…. I'm sure you understand."

Smirking a bit Bond continued the conversation.

" I know all about it… the old monument is as stubborn as ever I see."

Richard at that offered Bond to shadow him just in case something goes horribly wrong to which Bond obliged.

Entering the pub Richard and Bond quickly blended in keeping a close eye on the goons Bond has followed, Bond from a stall facing the west side of the bar while Richard sat at the bar near to the east and as a few minutes passed by the goons started to leave as Bond got behind one of the goons at gun point while Richard knocked out the goon trying to rush Bond, the bartender clearly not noticing what had happened turned around and met Richard's gaze.

"he had too much to drink."

The bartender vaguely understanding what Richard said got on with business as usual while Bond "chatted" with his new found friend.

'Fraulein Bunt where is she?'

His new 'friend' wasn't in a talking mood so Bond punched him towards the exit which seemed to do the trick.

' west Berlin… last we saw of her she's take refuge there'

Satisfied with the answer Bond instinctively went to have a chat with the bartender.

'pardon me but is there another way out of here?'

The bartender being a little fearful for his life quickly pointed towards the backdoor exit while Bond thanked him as Richard quickly followed, guessing what's to come he addressed the bartender.

"you might want to find yourself and your customers some cover….. better yet I think you should close early."

As the minutes passed Bond and Richard watch every patron leave the bar as another dark sedan drove by with another bunch of goons stepping into the pub with the sound of machine guns ripping through the air.

"where are we going next?"

Bond responded with the following.

"we're going to divide and conquer….. do you have any qualms of dispatching them permanently?"

Richard sighed knowing the question was bound to come up.

"if you ask me whether I would be fine with killing them, the answer is no…. however I don't mind hospitalizing them."

Bond gave a clear nod of understanding as both got to their respective cars, driving off in the opposite direction as the dark sedan drove after Bond first, ignoring Richard much to his dismay.

'for the love of god…..'

With that he quickly turned his Mini and gave chase to Bond's pursuers. Catching up to the sedan both cars were driving by a nearby old Gothic church, having caught up to the sedan Richard tried to sideswipe it, making it swerve out of control with no success, however he did manage to create a gap between the sedan and Bond's Aston Martin Vantage.

'let's hope you have a plan Bond'

Indeed Bond had a plan, he drove the Aston outside of the city limits as he pulled up next to Richard's car.

" make sure you're right besides me."

Doing just that Richard kept right next to him as he saw the Aston Martin's rear end lights reveal hidden missiles, a moment later both missiles were launched at the sedan effectively blowing it up in flames while Bond muttered wordlessly 'ashes to ashes… dust to dust.' Richard pulled next to bond to which Bond replied before Richard spoke.

"we're headed to West Berlin".

Back with the Teen Titans the battle with Starfire and Blackfire raged on and while Starfire was successful at getting Blackfire off the T plane Blackfire still had the upper hand knocking the air out of Starfire as she pummeled her and dragged her face across the Gordanian warship but not before making sure her little sister's head got smashed into the alien metal meanwhile the rest of the Titans and superman tried to distract Blackfire long enough to give Starfire a fighting chance.

' this ain't gonna cut it'.

Tapping into the speed force Kid Flash scoured the ship top to bottom to find a functioning communication system, once he did he tapped to the speed force yet again trying to figure out what was what and how to work it, once he managed that he tried making contact with The Justice League.

" uncle Barry please pick up please…"

Once Barry Allen A.K.A The Flash picked up Kid Flash cut in impatiently.

" hi yeah yeah no time for niceties we're getting our asses handed to us… if you have any heavy hitters other than…"

But before he could continue the transmission both Starfire and Superman came crashing through the room destroying the communicator as Starfire struggled to get up while superman let out a little blood from his mouth.

"sorry Blackfire blindsided me."

Kid Flash only asked the following question.

"don't tell me she has Kryptonite?"

Superman grimaced at the pain he felt.

"no she took advantage of the fact that I would never strike a woman."

Noticing the strange look Kid Flash gave him, he replied with.

"only in self defense…"

At this point Blackfire came into the room ignoring the fallen heroes as she picked up her fallen sister, pnly to witness Superman and Kid Flash get back up, sighing as she declared.

"stand down while you can still draw breath"

Superman slightly smirked as he signaled Kid Flash to retreat and get back up, the latter speeding out of the room.

" young lady if you knew me at all you would've learned by now I don't back down."

As Kid Flash ran back to his friends he used the Titans comm, reaching to Batman.

" loosing badly, Starfire captured,tell me you got a strategy or that the cavalry is own the way."

Batman miraculously following all that had this to offer as a reply.

" I got something even better…. I found the rest of the Titans…. let Blackfire go…."

Thankfully Kid Flash picked up on what Batman had in mind, he shut off the line before contacting Superman with the updated situation leaving Superman to say.

"understood, I'll have Green Lantern keep progress of her movements as she makes her escape…. now to make it look convincing….."

Back in the Bat cave Batman prepared to go after Night-wing as Alfred stepped in.

"make sure there are enough medical beds for the Titans when they arrive, I'm off to rescue my son.

Alfred not having to say a word gave a firm small nod as Batman fired up the portal, jumping through it.

Elsewhere in the heart of west Berlin Richard and Bond tried to track down the current whereabouts of one Irma Bunt, going from town to town, city to city they eventually came across a few people who knew of a cold and bitter middle aged woman living a secluded life in a near by village.

' excuse me sir can you tell me where she lives?'

The stranger apologized to Bond stating that he could not help him stating that the woman died due to a heart attack about a month or so back, both men stunned at the revelation sent off the man on his way while Bond just went back to his car, now pondering what should he do next, Richard quickly following.

"you know she died in this car, right at the passenger seat… shot by a stray bullet meant for me….. the only reason why I haven't bitten the bullet yet is the fact that I took an oath to serve my country…."

Richard had a realization at this point.

" a slow walk into the ocean…. that's what ran through your mind as we met that day isn't it…?"

Bond didn't say a word he just breathed in and out while lighting a small cigarette, offering one to Richard who politely refused, prompting Bond to speak up after a minute or two.

" say do you perceive me as weak?…. now admitting having suicidal thoughts?"

Richard grinned a little saying.

" I perceive you to be human… a flawed one at that but still very much human.

Richard continued.

" as my dad taught me time and time again…. one man's will can achieve wonders once someone sets his or hers mind to it….. focus on the ones you can protect instead of lingering on the ones you failed…"

With that being said Richard noticed a small light show in the distance from the rear view mirror recognizing it as the portal he got sucked into so he politely said his farewell to Bond.

"well it's been an experience knowing you old man….. return home to the people who care about you… tell them that I successfully accomplished my mission….. as for me, I finally found a way back home…."

Bond gave a genuine smile replying back.

"will do….. but I'd prefer not to be called an old man."

Richard just gestured him to take care as he left the car to where the portal has been opened, being greeted by Batman himself.

"how dire is the situation?"

Batman replied with.

"very much so…. Starfire's been captured by her sister."

Feeling his stomach sinking Richard/Night-wing asked in dread.

"you want me to rescue the others first am I right?"

Batman only nodded as they both entered the portal home, leading Night-wing to ask.

" I assume you're tracking Blackfire as we're talking?"

Batman gave a small smirk.

"you've assumed correctly son…."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 05: **survival instincts.

As soon as Richard/Night-wing entered the Bat cave Alfred hastened him towards the medical ward with Batman breathing a little bit in relief, Night-wing having changed back to his costume in the meantime said.

" if you're still searching for the others try narrowing down on worlds where their weaknesses can be exploited the most….."

Alfred politely interrupting asked the following.

"what makes you say that master Richard?"

Batman continued for Night-wing with a quick deduction.

"it's simple…. Blackfire sent Night-wing to a world where his or rather our resources where basically worthless… a world where we didn't or couldn't exist."

Night-wing corrected Batman on that.

"actually in the world I got stuck in we exist as fictional characters."

With that Alfred concluded the following.

"if I'm deducing correctly this Blackfire of whom you speak would've sent the rest of the Titans across worlds where their biggest weakness would….. dare I say it… might get them killed."

With that Night-wing left the infirmary wing and joined Batman who by this point continued the search for the missing Titans.

"let me give you a hand it would be twice as efficient."

As Batman and Night-wing started working on finding the others the rest of the Titans reserve force came back into the Bat cave defeated and deflated with Wonder Girl leading head on.

"you wouldn't believe the day we had….."

Kid Flash jokingly tried to ease the mood.

" I don't think there are concepts of night and day in space."

Pissed off Hawk just smacked him in the back of the head while claiming.

" someone better have some good news or so help me I'm gonna raise hell in here…."

Alfred sarcastically replied that if he does so to please and mind the carpets and floor as Night-wing just answered.

" well you got me….. now would you mind keeping your voice down?…. some people are trying to work here…."

Though Hawk was relieved to see Night-wing/ Dick alive and well, his temper almost got the better of him that is until Dove intervened, trying to calm him.

"now now…. I'm sure Night-wing's trying to mess with your head…. come with me and let's see if that beautiful head of yours needs tending…. that's an order…."

Hawk reluctantly agreed while Night-wing continued surveying and searching each world, trying to determine where his friends and teammates could be and after about an hour or so he zeroed in on Beast boy.

' bingo…. hang on Gar the cavalry is about to arrive.'

A few hours earlier to the battle between Starfire and her sister commenced the portal that Beast boy ' got into' has opened up spitting him down head first into an unknown land, luckily for him, he didn't end up hitting his head, on the other hand he still found himself unconscious.

' ughhh…. there must be an easier way to wrack up frequent flier points.'

Waking up dazed and confused to a world surrounded by domes, filled with smoke , smog , pollution and the smell of decay the first thing that came to mind was. 'wow Detroit really went overboard with it's crap' before he began to wonder around hoping to find signs of life, or the next best thing, breathable air, wondering about for a few minutes he finally picked up a smell and sound of another living creature, but what he saw next surprised the living hell out of him. He saw a bunch of people chasing after what looked like another human only upon closer inspection it seemed like a creature out of an H.R. Giger fever dream, none the less Beast boy tried transforming into a bear only to discover that he turned into a mutation himself, causing the pursuers to panic, leaving the defenseless creature alone, turning back Beast boy made first contact.

" are you alright?"

The creature stayed silent before replying back just a few seconds later.

"well I'm not dead….. so that's a start… you better run before they'll come after you next…"

The creature started to flee with Beast boy trying to maintain pace chasing after it.

" not to be rude….. but what the hell is going on, and what the hell are you….?"

The creature replied.

" a very good question…. just not the right time to ask it…. stick with me if you want an answer."

A few hours went by as Beast boy was now following his new found friend through what he could only be assumed was an old sewage system and much to Beast boy's dismay he picked up on the scent rather quickly.

" please tell me we're not sloshing through shit right now…."

The creature replied back.

"yes we are…. but better to smell like shit instead of becoming a rotten corpse….."

Beast boy thought about it for a moment before stating back.

" was that supposed to be an encouraging thought?…. that's anything but an encouraging thought…. either way what makes you sure the assholes that chased you wouldn't go down here?"

At that the creature continued to move forward as it was answering.

"simple…. their immune system is too weak to let them survive the harsh environment… any other question."

Beast boy replied at that sarcastically.

"oh a bunch…. but I'll wait while I'll be able to take a bath and burn my clothes to the ground…."

With a few minutes passing by both made it further underground, finally finding an exit from the sewer tunnels only to exit into an entire underground civilization.

"stick close we gonna find you a nice place to clean up and someone to answer all of your questions."

Beast boy marveling at what he saw took a mental note.

' don't worry I'm making a list right now… Jesus.'

Sticking close to the creature, Beast boy took in the minimalist scenery, a bazaar of sorts, as both made their way into a makeshift hut built from garbage and scraps of metal and broken glass.

"wait here…."

Beast boy did as he was asked for and waited, during which he got a few glances from passers by which made him self conscious.

"either I'm that good looking or there's something on my face….is there something on my face?"

Unfortunately for him no one answered as he waited a few minutes until the creature returned outside.

" please follow me inside…"

As Beast boy did he came face to face with yet another creature, this one had a more recognizable shape, that o an English Bulldog, however he was still mutated like all of the rest of them, moreover it was clear to Beast boy that he was an elder of sorts as the creature began to speak.

" I understand you saved one of my female companions a while back thank you."

Beast boy tried to maintain a humble demeanor replied the following.

" you're welcome mister…."

The elder stopped him saying kindly.

"please… no need for formalities, come… rest for a little while while I'll try my best to answer all of your questions…. and I'm assuming there quite a few.

Beast boy accepting the hospitality continued the conversation.

"just one for now….. what is this world exactly?"

"I suppose it's the only logical question…" the elderly creature replied before continuing with posing a different question.

"tell me young one….. what do you know of evolution?"

Beast boy stunned at the question took his time to think before answering with.

" well basically I know that life began from the sea…. let's see what else?…. oh that humanity evolved from apes….. and that humans developed tools which led to civilization… why do you ask?"

The elder one now genuinely smiling at Beast boy chose to answer as followed.

" well to make a long answer short….. in this reality animals and humans have evolved as equals… we developed tools, learned trades and developed civilizations of our own…"

Beast boy quirked an eyebrow as he continued the conversation.

"right….. and you chose to build your society in a sewer because of the view?"

The creature that led him to it's home deadpanned the following reply.

"don't be a smart ass….."

However at this point the elderly creature quieted down the younger one.

"he has the right to question you know… he is a visitor and our guest after all….."

Beast boy apologized with the following.

" no no I was wrong….. I'm sorry please continue."

And with that the elder one did with the younger creature filling in some story gaps where it was needed.

"so let me get it straight since animals evolved just like people in this world humanity declared war on you, wiping you all out in the process…. is that about right?"

The elderly creature gave a small nod confirming that Beast boy got it pretty much on the first try, overwhelmed Beast boy's only reaction was to fall backwards in a seated position.

" I think I need a rest….. would you mind if…..?"

The elderly creature replied the following with a reassuring tone.

" but of course… Dahlia would escort you to a nice secluded room for you to rest."

The younger creature now recognized as Dahlia landed a hand to Beast boy as he got up to follow her lead, on the way there he struck a conversation.

" so Dahlia?, may I call you Dahlia?, what kind of creature did you evolve from, if you don't mind me asking?"

Dahlia answered as followed.

" yes you may, I belong to a species evolved from crows and ravens and no I don't mind you asking."

At that Beast boy started smiling sweetly thinking about Raven only for his smile to disappear quickly after, in the meantime the both of them reached to what will be Beast boy's temporary home, picking up on his mood change Dahlia asked.

"don't tell me it's not to your liking…"

Beast boy quickly rebutted.

" it's not that… it's my girlfriend…. she's lost somewhere out there and I just have to try and find her"

Dahlia at this point smirked at him.

"funny I didn't peg you to be a romantic…."

Before she could continue Beast boy gave his own smirk shooting right back.

" I didn't peg you to be comedian".

With that both parted ways as Beast boy went on inside finding the closest thing to a bed before he layed down and closed his eyes drifting to sleep. Back in the Bat cave, several hours ahead, Night-wing pinpointed Beast boy's general location as he was now preparing to enter the portal after him.

" Donna, Hank, everyone….. if something happens to you…"

Surprisingly Hank stopped him in his tracks.

" listen asshole… don't start with this bullshit drama…. nothing's gonna happen, and if something does I'll drag you back myself to kick your ass for letting it go this far… now move your ass and save your team already….."

With that Night-wing gave a smirk, silently saying 'you could try…..' before heading out into the portal, in the meantime Alfred said to Hawk with all sincerity.

" I couldn't have said it better myself."

At this point Hawk replied back.

" oh but of course you would Gieves , you would add something I don't have…. a sense of class."

With that Alfred went back to his duties as Night-wing was thinking while in the portal.

'please don't do something too stupid Beast boy'.

Stepping out of the portal Night-wing/Richard took in the new environment he stepped into exclaiming to himself.

" well H. would have a field day when he sees this…"

With that he made his way forward making sure to blend in as he took his new surroundings with caution, especially when he met the indigenous species in person, however at this point and time Dahlia made her rounds around the settlement.

' a new scent… better keep my eyes pealed'

Dahlia kept following Night-wing around, trying to determine how much of a foe or a risk is he, however at one point he gave her the slip, only to reappear behind her.

"you've been stalking me for a little while now…. I want to know why?"

Dahlia replied as follows.

" I don't trust people I don't know…. especially humans, it's a character flaw of mine….."

Night-wing at that continued the conversation.

" are you an alien?"

Dahlia didn't take offense to that as she answered.

"no just a highly evolved animal….. what's it to you?"

Night-wing, a bit surprised, relaxed himself as he answered.

"nothing…. I'm just looking for my friend…. he's green so you can't miss him."

Dahlia at that stayed silent for a few brief moments before relaxing herself as she silently gestured Night-wing/Richard to follow her.

A few minutes later Dahlia and Richard/Night-wing arrived at where she left Beast boy with Night-wing quietly entering the room, giving a quick glance over he noticed Beast boy laying on his side breathing calmly in and out.

"you can stop pretending Beast boy."

Beast boy's ears perked up before he sat himself on the edge of the bed.

" oh…. Night-wing it's just you….. how did you know?"

Night-wing smirked before he started pinching his nose in an attempt to plug it.

"it wasn't that difficult to guess…. how did you end up in this place anyway?"

Beast boy now slapping himself in an attempt to wake up said the following.

"long story… you?"

Night-wing quipped back.

" an even longer one…"

With that both teens let out a small laugh as they began to catch up between the two of them and after a few minutes of back and forth Beast boy concluded.

"well it's been a nice vacation for the both of us…. well nicer for you anyway…. but we have to split.

Night-wing seemed a little tense while replying.

"easier said than done…. from what you've told me, they tolerate you….. so I'll bet they love me."

Beast boy wanted to object but couldn't instead both teens kept sitting in the room trying to come up with a plan of escape. Speaking of escape plans Starfire has awoken after the battle with Komand'r as both passed a few star systems in a Gordanian escape pod, now planning her next move to stop her sister before enacting her plan.

' I know what goes through your mind before you think it.'

Starfire in her native tongue answered the following.

'what makes you think I won't go through with it anyway?'

Blackfire/Komand'r has set the escape pod to auto pilot and was now giving Starfire her fullest attention.

'simple you lack the intent to kill…..'

With that Starfire glared at her older sister silently saying to her 'try me…..' however Blackfire/Komand'r went back to the ships controls. Setting course not for Tamaran but for a planet infamous for holding slave trades the citadel home planet.

' tell me sister?…. are you going to auction me off as a slave as part of your revenge?'

Komand'r just chuckled before responding back.

'no…. I have something more appropriate in mind'

With that the Gordanian escape pod entered slowly Drasactis's solar system, leaving Starfire to ponder what's to become of her fate knowing that her friends and loved ones are trapped out there within different dimensions and realities trying to escape the best they could.

'friends stay safe….. where ever you are….'

As Komand'r made her approach to the citadel home planet she has forgotten for a moment that for a blood thirsty race of aliens, they were highly sophisticated, though their home planet was ravaged by war with neighboring planets, the citadel were resourceful enough to make their asteroid belt into a defensive fortress, however as the ship made it's way towards the planet's atmosphere Komand'r had to be reminded why she despised visiting said planet, the harsh and extreme cold weather. As the escape pod made further into the planet it began to slow down as it reached a creature standing guard against the border of what could only be described as the inner core, the creature itself looked like a wild boar, having two sets of arms, wearing animal fur and brandishing a high tech spear a head taller than it.

' Komand'r, commander of the slave ship Trak'r?'

Komand'r responded with the following.

' the one and the same….. get on with it….'

The creature clearly not amused spat back at her.

' I have my orders….. you will wait here until a ship comes to take you into the inner core… and if you're displeased with the cold…. well that's too bad. I've suffered a month already.'

With that Komand'r fainted disappointment and innocence before she blasted him with an intensified star bold aimed straight at his head while offering the following response.

'well you have my permission to suffer no longer…'

After returning to the escape pod Starfire gave a silent stare at her older sister that said. 'he most likely had a family'.

As Komand'r reached the inner core she opted to render Koryand'r unconscious before carrying her on one shoulder towards the planet's ruler's castle, a ruthless creature called lord Damyn. Once the castle, well more like a fort made out off the natural rock formation, was in sight Komand'r enlisted the help of two guards guarding the place, and by enlisting actually meaning forcing them to. Once inside the fortress Komand'r caught the ruthless ruler of the planet, a massive black mass of muscles and flesh, in a compromising position, crushing one of his slave's throat for apparently scratching his teeth.

'Hmmm. Me get idea me do, maybe me get your teeth and wear them on mine… what you think Komand'r?'

Komand'r responded as follows.

' I have no objections to your decision… I came to show you the fruits of my victorious mission to earth… I present to you my sister… princess Koryand'r of Tamaran…..'

Skeptical yet intrigued lord Damyn stared intensely at Komand'r before summoning his loyal soldiers to his side, which after they arrived he chose to respond.

' really? Princess Koryand'r? you do not play joke on lord Damyn, high of highs, best of best?'

Seeing Komand'r's stoic and uncaring expression he continued.

'no of course you do not…. me would rip your arms me would….. ho! What joke that would be heh?… you not laugh Komand'r?, but me think that would be funny, oh yes me do hah.'

Seeing the amusement in his subordinate's face lord Damyn continued for a bit longer.

'you with no arms, maybe no legs either. Hmmm yes big joke eh? eh?'

As the air got increasingly uncomfortable between the company present Koryand'r/Starfire came to out of her 'nap' to which lord Damyn wasted no time invading her personal space.

'hmmm pretty girl….'

As Koryand'r struggled for a bit to get up lord Damyn's soldiers pinned her to the ground as lord Damyn himself continued while she gave him a subtle dirty face that said. 'try anything I dare you…..' however lord damyn took pleasure from such a display.

' me knows you think I'm pretty… now come come kiss…..'

However Koryand'r kept struggling and resisting which made lord Damyn ponder a bit more

'hmmm me wonder , maybe you be prettier with no arms and legs.'

At hearing that Koryand'r snapped finally managing to overpower the guards as she unleashed a devastating star bolt at lord Damyn, however due to his tough exterior it merely stunned him as he took a couple of steps back, recovering he was about to attack back but not before exclaiming.

'you try to hurt lord of lords, highs of high, best of best…'

Before a fight between Koryand'r and lord Damyn could ensue Starfire was struck in the back by Komand'r herself. Damyn however, in a livid mood exclaimed.

'she hurt me, she did…. maybe a should cut her to little pieces for that…. maybe I should eat little pieces then.'

At that Komand'r took a defensive stance instinctively knowing what would come next out of the blob's mouth.

'you let her hurt me… me think maybe eat you too and cut you to pieces.'

Swallowing her pride, Komand'r began to grumble and weasel her way out of the situation.

'of course not your lordship… I can assure you she will never hurt you again…'

Lord Damyn tried to inquire as to why she brought her sister to him but Komand'r was quick to counter.

' I brought her to you as an offering in exchange for one of your war ships.'

Lord Damyn smiled at that as he ordered his men to carry the corpse of his slave away before addressing Komand'r directly.

'come we will order feast….. you hungry right….?'

Komand'r responded immediately without hesitation.

'oh yes lord Damyn very hungry….'

At this point lord Damyn led Komand'r through the halls of his fortress towards the dinning tables while adding jokingly.

' you want to eat Koryand'r maybe….?'

Komand'r swallowing her pride yet again humbly answered.

'oh no don't go to the trouble'

An air of silence fell upon the two before lord Damyn exclaimed.

'okay, just asking…. mmmm, me starved.

With that the two entered the dinning room taking a seat at the table.

As the feast commenced Komand'r took note that her sister was brought in a cylinder tube being propped up as the centre piece while Koryand'r from time to time got an electric jolt as lord Damyn and his soldiers wined and dined, on occasion trying to wine and dine a group of scantily clad slave girls, even as far as forcing drinks down their throats.

'me know how entertain eh?, me sure do. Come sit.'

Komand'r on the verge of losing her patience, calmed herself before fainting politeness.

'thank you lord Damyn…. about my sister…'

Lord Damyn however cut her off immediately.

'do not thank me Komand'r…. she will wiggle in electrical cell until dinner is finished.'

As Komand'r was about to respond Lord Damyn continued prattling on.

'then we fry her for dessert, she taste good eh?'

At this Komand'r finally found a moment to stir the conversation.

'Lord Damyn? May I ask for your audience?'

Lord Damyn yet again cut her off.

'sure sure, let me take you to my bed chamber…'

Komand'r was livid yet she maintained a sense of aloofness.

' I have a better idea… spare my sister's life and in return make her and your army's concubine… she is far more younger and fertile than me your grace.'

At that lord Damyn broke into a feet of laughter as he continued eating his portion as a slave girl brought on the next course.

'oh sure, me understand, surely do, no problem…. me will have handmaiden cooked instead'

As he was referring to the slave girl who served his meals ignoring the terrified look on her face. As dinner slowly wined down lord Damyn addressed Komand'r once again.

'say you like dinner?'

Komand'r's only response was a polite one as lord Damyn continued with the conversation.

'yes Skrig had more meat on him than me thought….'

The slave girl that stood next to him couldn't bare the thought that she served one of her own kind to her lord and master, running out of the room so she could hide her shock and revolt, to which lord Damyn payed no heed since he would've slain her and cooked her on a later date. Speaking of a later date, back with Beast boy and Night-wing, the latter was now being 'escorted' by Dahlia and a few armed creatures to the same elder introduced to the former.

"come have a seat young man…."

With all politeness Night-wing stated.

"thank you I'd prefer standing…"

The elderly creature gave an amused yet quizzical look begging Night-wing to continue the conversation to which Night-wing did.

"with all due respect to your situation and your current circumstance, we, meaning Beast boy and I have a situation back home that needs our attention…. a life or death matter."

At that the elderly creature stopped Night-wing in mid conversation.

"then by all means you should go."

Night-wing raised his eyebrow before replying with a question.

"just like that?"

At that question the elderly creature gave an amused smile and a roaring laughter before calming himself.

"yes, yes that's the least I could do…. after all your friend risked his life to save one of my charge's… that's the least I could do to repay him."

Accepting that logic Night-wing headed to the exit back to Beast boy before the elder creature reached his hand over to Night-wing's shoulder.

"make haste my friend….. I may have given you a sign of generosity and trust, however I'm afraid the rest of my kind do not share the sentiment…"

Night-wing nodded in a yes motion before dashing quickly towards Beast boy while the latter remained behind in his rest area, now visibly starting to worry.

'maybe I should've gone with him….. maybe vouch for him…. nah he doesn't need it…. he's Night-wing after all'

A few minutes later Night-wing stepped through the door motioning Beast boy to follow him quietly and with that both made it to the edge of the encampment/settlement.

As Night-wing was about to open the portal back home he stopped in his tracks alerting and confusing Beast boy.

"correct me if I'm wrong but weren't you about to send us back home?"

Night-wing didn't reply right away, he focused and listened to the environment around them before he made the following statement.

" we were followed."

Before Beast boy could question him further a group of 10 creatures came crawling out of a strategic hiding place, to Beast boy's horror those weren't just any creatures is instincts told him that those creatures were humanoid arachnids, poisonous to boot.

"Night-wing…. I know we usually fight when we're surrounded…. but can we flee for our lives this time?"

Night-wing a bit surprised and confused just asked bluntly.

"those are not just any kind of spiders right?"

Without a warning one of the spider creatures charged Beast boy and Night-wing, attacking them with shear brute force, Night-wing however was faster landing a kick to the creatures head while pulling out his escrima sticks, shocking and knocking the creature unconscious.

"dude that was an Atrax robustus…. you're lucky to be alive…"

Night-wing's only reply was.

" I'll take your word for it… in the meantime let's try and stay alive."

At this point one of the creatures just spoke.

"there's still 9 of us….. and only 2 of you."

Both Night-wing and Beast boy smirked before replying at the same time.

"we know… bad odds for you….."

That statement made the group mad as they attacked the two simultaneously and at first Night-wing and Beast boy fended them off successfully but with in each passing moment they were getting more dizzy and out of breath. With that a female member of the group addressed them both.

"what's wrong?…. out of breath already?….. or is it you can't adapt to the planet's atmosphere?…. I'm guessing all of the above…"

At this moment the group of arachnids got closer and closer ready to sink their fangs at their fresh victims, however right at that moment a familiar face came to their rescue.

"Beast boy…. take your friend and go home….. now, I'll fend them off long enough for you to escape."

Beast boy still struggling to stand and breath tried to protest but Night-wing, getting a second breath of air opened the portal quickly and carried off Beast boy inside of it landing on a thud on the other side. Speaking of thuds, at this point Koryand'r got spared of the fate of being someone's dessert only to be tossed in a small cell on the citadel planet right along side the female slaves owned by lord Damyn.

'do not attempt to escape… not one of us has gotten far enough….. many of us died as well.

Composing herself Starfire just sat quietly seemingly accepting the cards she's been dealt but in reality she was waiting patiently for a moment for the guards to slip up so she could strike back. Several minutes turned into several hours as her stomach began to ache and growl.

'excuse me might I trouble you with a question?'

The other female slaves didn't answer with words, only gesturing Starfire/Koryand'r to continue.

' how often do the soldiers feed us?'

To Koryand'r's horror she received the following answer.

'they usually feed us when they feel like it…. some of the prisoners over here resort to cannibalism.'

At that revelation Starfire/Koryand'r didn't say anything, she just kept quiet for a few more minutes before an idea struck her, she quickly shared the idea with her new cellmates and at that point one of them opened her mouth voicing and vocalizing her opinion.

' say your plan does work…. how can we trust you to come back for us as well… we all know who you are…'

Koryand'r tried to reassure the female slave that she will not betray her however the slave did not trust her one bit so she tried to attack her, lunging at her throat and attempting to punch her, to which Koryand'r again tried to reason with her.

'stop please…. I am telling the truth I will not betray you…'

To that the female slave only reply was.

' I know you'll not betray us…. you'll be dead before you'd ever have the chance.'

At that point Starfire/Koryand'r didn't had any choice, she fought back, yet she kept her powers in check as she first delivered a low energy star bolt to the female slave's stomach and afterwards delivered a solid punch to her jaw to knock her out cold.

' I'm truly sorry about that.'

With that Starfire/Koryand'r called out to one of the guards catching his attention.

'contact lord Damyn I need to have a conversation with him… also some of his slaves need medical attention.'

The guard however did not care to listen, instead he hit Starfire with the blunt side of his javelin at the base of her nose, effectively breaking it. As Starfire popped her nose back into place a higher ranking soldier came into view seeing what transpired and without a single word impaled the prison guard right through the mouth, now addressing Koryand'r.

' you… lord Damyn wants you….'

With that Starfire/Koryand'r obliged as she passed the prison guard's corpse, following the high ranking soldier towards lord Damyn's quarters. A while later both Koryand'r and the high ranking soldier came to a stop in front of a grandiose door as the soldier pointed out.

'in there…'

With that he left as Koryand'r opened the door to be bombarded with both sounds of moaning and horrified screams as lord Damyn could be seeing 'pleasuring' a nameless female slave while devouring a second one alive and raw. As blood splattered everywhere lord Damyn finally took notice of Koryand'r.

' come while me make myself presentable in a moment'

At this point and time lord Damyn has snapped the female's neck from her body as he stopped devouring her flesh while tossing the other female of his bed, using the bed sheets as a makeshift napkin he stomped out of his bed, presumably towards a bathroom as he made sure to crush the skull of the female slave he threw out not too long ago, with that Starfire could only think to herself.

' better make your act convincing'

With that she rapidly yet seductively tossed her costume to the floor following after lord Damyn into his bathroom, delightfully surprising the warlord.

' me like way you think….. much better than the last slave girls'

With that Starfire/Koryand'r gave him a coy smile.

To help maintain her composure and to distract from the horror she witnessed before Starfire went on the aggressive approach wasting no time in giving lord Damyn a full body massage to which the warlord responded with pleased moans and grunts leading to Starfire quietly thinking to herself.

'X'hal… I do hope he'll let his guard slip soon…..'

In the meantime the massage continued on for several moments before lord Damyn addressed her directly.

'me likes….. me would also like a kiss from those lips…'

The thought unsettled Starfire at first, however, it did give her an idea.

' I just love a male who knows what he wants….'

With that she aggressively locked lips with lord Damyn for several minutes before she delivered a paralyzing blow to the base of his neck rendering him unconscious on his bathroom floor.

' thank you…'

With that she quickly got out of the bathroom, threw her costume fast and got out of the room fast heading towards the hangar of the citadel fort, hoping she'll find a space craft big enough for her and the slaves trapped in this fortress.

' note to self…. ask Richard to borrow his mouthwash for a little while'

With that she went to free the slaves in the fortress in the hopes of saving them and the hopes the ensuing riot will create a distraction.

As Starfire flew towards the hangar she discovered to her dismay that there were no spacecrafts available, well at least not functioning ones. Disappointed, she refocused her efforts to freeing the slaves, with speed to rival both Kid Flash and Flash himself she took flight as she incapacitated every citadel warrior she could find on her way to the holding cells, freeing as many slaves as possible. In the meantime lord Damyn has regained consciousness and sent reinforcements to intercept Starfire as she made her way to the cell she was kept in, melting the doors off their hinges.

' we don't have time for small talk you must leave now '

The female slaves thanked their savior as they began to run outside, even the one who attacked Koryand'r, but before they could reach the exit they were slaughtered by lord Damyn's reinforcement's with him not far behind. Starfire enraged by that quickly charged in trying to save as many as she could, however the soldiers started to overwhelm her as they left no survivors.

'halt… this one belongs to me…..'

With that lord Damyn came in to view just as Starfire/Koryand'r was about to be knocked out, rage still present in her eyes.

' I'm no one's belonging… especially you…'

Lord Damyn amused simply answered.

'me beg to differ'

Koryand'r at that grew even more furious as she wrestled the soldiers for the opportunity to sock lord Damyn's face with a punch and a star bolt but lord Damyn struck Starfire at the base of the neck exactly as she did to him.

'toss this one in a cell…. keep good watch until she breaks…'

As lord Damyn's soldiers obeyed their orders Night-wing assumed the leadership role yet again as he addressed the Titans present in the Bat cave.

" based on the intell provided to Batman by the Green Lantern Core Starfire was last spotted on route to the citadel home planet, now stating the obvious we're not in great shape and most likely we will find ourselves outnumbered but Starfire would never abandon anyone of us in our time of need….. so any questions before we set off on what most likely will be a suicide mission?"

Hawk raised his hand as he asked.

" yeah….. have you taken a bath lately?… you stink up to high heaven".

Appreciating the attempt in humor Night-wing shot right back.

"yes as a matter of fact… three times already, now any actual questions?"

Beast boy just asked bluntly.

" who's going and who's staying behind to rescue our missing friends?"

Night-wing anticipated the question as he answered the following.

" me Hawk and Dove will venture into space accompanied by Superman as back up while Wonder Girl and Beast boy will stay behind to search for the rest."

Hawk now interrupted.

"that's great and all…. but how in the fuck are we gonna get there? You got a spaceship in the garage or something?"

Night-wing just pointed to the warping device he used to find and rescue Beast boy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 06: **Frost and embers.

' a few years ago I could've described you what loneliness is….. a few years ago I could confidently claim that it was second nature to me…. well nothing prepared me for what happened to me after I got thrown into that portal…'

on a desolate planet a war was raging on, not a war between intelligent beings, nor a war of ideas or ideal but a war between the elements themselves and stuck in the middle of it all was one Rachel Roth also known to very few as Raven of the Teen Titans. Ever since the portal that Raven fell into opened and threw her on the other side she discovered that her destination was an inhabitant earth covered in perpetual snowfall with volcanoes erupting on a regular basis leaving volcanic ash in their path covering the atmosphere blocking out the sun, effectively creating an ice age. Taking it all in was overwhelming to Raven, in fact if she was a regular human girl she would've died in a matter of minutes, not even being able to process what has happened to her. Not being content on barely surviving Raven decided that for now her best course of action was to seek immediate shelter, so without taking the risk of exhausting herself she began trekking the land in search for shelter. It took about an hour's walk until she found what appeared to be a cave in her line of sight, rejoiced she quickly made her way towards it in hoping of finding an escape from the harsh weather, as she entered inside however she quickly took note that the conditions inside the cave wasn't an improvement.

' congratulations…. you've upgraded from freezer to refrigerator…'

Tugging her cloak tighter around her body she explored the cave more in the hope to find a smoother surface on which she could meditate and perhaps even get a little shut eye, scratch that she'll definitely need the shut eye. As Raven made her way deeper into the cave she eventually found a surface smooth enough to lie on, utilizing some of her power she warmed herself internally, just enough so she could fall asleep on the surface and as she closed her eyes she drifted off into a deep undisturbed sleep. Deep within the mind of Raven, the yellow doppelgnger of Knowledge kept watch of what has happened over the last few hours as a scientist conducting an experiment, at this point however another facet of Raven's personality came over right next to the yellow covered persona.

'may I help you with something Timid?'

Timid, a persona of Raven's wearing mostly gray, took a deep breath before speaking up.

' I know that you despise people pointing out the obvious but…. Raven's not strong enough in this kind of place and situation…'

Knowledge at this point finished Timid's thought.

' you're afraid He would try and take over.'

Astonished by the doppelganger calm reaction she couldn't but blurt out in a small state of panic.

' well aren't you?'

Knowledge continued the conversation as followed.

'naturally there is a part of me that worries however, in the worst case scenario if Raven doesn't maintain control and he may take over… there is no reason for concern…. if she's hurt or Worse He can't cross over… something He can't afford of happening.'

Seeing that Timid understood her reasoning Knowledge changed the subject of the conversation.

' while you're up and about could you make sure our other companions are well tended to and occupied?'

Timid at that responded by asking.

' are you sure I'm the best one to pick for such a task?'

Knowledge thought for a moment before she gave her reply.

' to be honest you make a good point however Raven can't afford to feel fear at this point, so giving you something else to focus on will maintain calmness around here'

Timid was about to protest and object to the insinuation made by Knowledge's comment but the more she thought about it the more it made sense to her, so reluctantly she left Knowledge's domain in search of her other counterparts. In the meantime Raven woken up after her nap in the cavern ready to begin meditating except for one small fact, her stomach began to growl loudly which meant one thing, she'd have to forage for food first.

' great…. back to the freezer once again….'

As she made it back outside the weather hasn't changed at all so Raven ventured onward looking for anything eatable or at least nutritious enough to settle her stomach long enough so she could properly meditate. It took about three hours until she got back to the cave and while the forage wasn't as successful as she hoped she did find some eatable fruit, firewood and a few flint stones. As she reentered the cave she couldn't help but sarcastically think to herself.

' I should find an IKEA catalogue for this place if I ever hope to redecorate'

Concluding the thoughts on the matter Raven briskly and efficiently got a small fire started before starting eating some of the fruits she has managed to gather while trying to ration as much as she can. Feeling halfway full Raven situated herself in a lotus position, breathing in and out as she closed her eyes and drifted into her meditation. As Raven began to meditate she allowed a small part of her essence to emerge inside the confines of her mind, the one she effectively called Nevermore. Raven would often come visit this realm, sometimes because she had a pressing matter to attend to there and other times she found it relaxing to wonder aimlessly from time to time, however this time it was for the former reason. A few moments later Raven wound up in front of Knowledge's domain but before she could enter the yellow double got out to greet her instead.

"well this is a surprise….."

Knowledge gave a small smile while replying.

'actually I was expecting you'

Before Raven could rebuttal Knowledge clarified.

' your arrival was an educated guess as far as I know it you and by association all of us are not clairvoyant.'

At that Raven gave a small sigh saying.

"do I have to tell you what's the reason of my visit?"

At that Knowledge nodded a 'no' as the both of them venture on into the confines of Knowledge's domain.

In the meantime back at the Bat cave Night-wing, Hawk and Dove were preparing to storm Starfire's last known location as Beast boy and Wonder Girl were searching for Raven's current whereabouts, well more likely Wonder Girl did the search through sifting the records of the potential dimensions she could be in while Beast boy kept himself busy with working out, eating and drinking.

"hey can you give me a hand?"

At that Beast boy started clapping which got an eye roll from Wonder Girl, silently saying ' I walked into this one', before rephrasing herself.

" would you please help me look over this database so we could rescue Raven faster?"

Beast boy gave an apologetic look before he replied.

" sorry…. it's just that I'm super worried about her too… and the only thing that keeps me from climbing up the walls from worry is being physically active."

Understanding his predicament Wonder Girl continued the conversation with the following.

" I get it, if it was Terry going missing I'd probably couldn't keep focus myself."

At hearing her reply beast boy's eyes went wide as though he had a revelation.

"hey Wondie, try and focus on her power…."

Wonder Girl gave a questioning look at Beast boy inquiring what was he getting at so Beast boy elaborated.

"her powers are fueled by emotions right?, so Blackfire would've sent her….

Wonder Girl finished his thoughts.

"somewhere where her powers would be ineffective… somewhere probably where there are no people around."

With that Beast boy began searching himself for a few brief minutes before he landed on a possibility, drawing Wonder Girl's attention.

" I think I found her…."

Joining him Wonder Girl took a look before remarking.

" you think?…. well let's have a look then….. a world where no life has evolved….. surrounded by a perpetual ice age…"

Beast boy impatiently interrupted.

"right?….. what better place to get rid of an empath?…"

Wonder Girl however remained skeptical as Night-wing came towards them wanting an update on their progress.

"so any developments yet?"

Wonder Girl replied the following.

"not sure… Beast boy's maybe on to something…. but I'm not sure we'll find Raven specifically there…."

Night-wing just gave a nod to Wonder Girl silently asking to trust Beast boy's instincts as Beast boy went upstairs towards the manor with Night-wing asking in curiosity.

"and where are you going?"

Beast boy replied the following.

"to get winter gear….."

Night-wing at this point waited patiently for Beast boy to return and after about a solid 30 minutes Beast boy finally returned with a thick winter coat and a thermos, at this moment Night-wing eyed him with slight annoyance.

" chicken soup."

With that Night-wing accepted Beast boy's answer as he himself went upstairs towards Wayne manor as Hawk at this moment gave an amused, almost mocking grin towards Beast boy.

"chicken soup?….. really?"

At that Beast boy only shrugged innocently saying.

"don't underestimate chicken soup…. especially Alfie's."

Hawk was about to further tease Beast boy but thankfully Dove dissuaded him from going further as Night-wing came back five minutes later with a thermos of his own, switching on the warping device saying.

" titans….. I now have Starfire's exact location….. let's bring her back….. Titan's together…"

Hawk just smirked asking.

"did we really need the pep talk?"

Night-wing shot back with a smirk.

"just making sure nobody here gets cold feet."

With that Night-wing, Hawk and Dove went in through the portal and as it closed as the last of them went through while Beast boy made final preparations to retrieve Raven, Wonder Girl staying close behind him. Speaking of staying close behind that's what Night-wing and his team were doing as they exited the portal right in front of the citadel fortress, being hit with the full extent of the planet's harsh weather.

" Hawk, Dove, take the right and the left while I take the middle….."

Hawk and Dove in return looked at him as if he had gone crazy, Night-wing quickly reasoned.

"recon of course…. did you really expect to mount a full scale assault going in blind?"

Dove just nodded in affirmation while Hawk faced palmed himself for being an idiot, as Dove split to the left Hawk stayed behind a little longer asking.

"say got an extra thermos with ya?… I'm hungry, not cold or anything…."

Night-wing gave him a solemn look stating.

"sorry that's the only one…"

Hawk looked pissed off until Night-wing added.

"tell you what? if you find a kitchen during your search… you got my permission to raid it….."

Giving him a mock salute Hawk took off towards the right side of the fortress as Night-wing took the middle path, thinking to himself.

' best bet for me to find Star is finding out how to access the lower levels'

As Night-wing continued onward inside the fortress, Hawk reached him on his communicator.

"heads up… the locals here got muscles on top of muscles….."

" thanks for the update."

As Night-wing ended the conversation with Hawk he got in contact with another hero.

"Superman….. how far are you out?"

Superman's calm and reassuring voice was heard on the other line as he replied.

" I'm just a few minutes away from you….. are you sure I'm needed only as backup?"

Night-wing couldn't help but smile as he continued the conversation.

" I know what you mean… you wanna be helpful but you already are, you're Superman after all…. besides it's a simple extraction nothing more."

Ending the conversation Superman's reply was as follows.

"alright….. but if you need me just call my name."

Night-wing acknowledged Superman as he moved about in the fortress trying to locate Starfire. As he did however he was almost made out by one of lord Damyn's soldiers. Blending into the shadows Night=wing tailed the soldier until he found the entrance to the cell block, following the soldier deeper he waited until there was no one around. Now in the clear Night-wing got the drop on the soldier incapacitating him with a drop kick.

"sleep tight."

Night-wing searched the soldier for anything resembling a key but with no luck, so he kept on moving searching for Starfire inside the underground maze like complex whispering.

"Star if you can hear me please give me a sign."

At that point he discovered a faint glow coming from a deeper parts of the prison complex, knowing that it was Starfire he quickly rushed towards the glow, seeing he was right Starfire at this point rushed him.

"thank the heavens you're alive and well… what are you doing here?"

Night-wing relieved to see his girlfriend alive jested in good humor.

" is that anyway to greet your boyfriend?….. it's nice to feel welcomed"

Laughing a bit with him Starfire/Koryand'r replied.

"it's not what I meant… Blackfire's on her way to Tamaran as we speak and we still need to save our friends as well…"

Night-wing at this point gave her a deep kiss on her lips reassuring her.

"not to worry we're currently doing every effort to set things right with the world… well at least the things we can control."

At that Starfire softly interrupted.

"speaking of setting things right… we need to save as many as we can here…"

Night-wing giving a quizzical look made Starfire better explain herself.

"the prisoners in this fortress are either being used as slaves or as meals for the soldier's and their warlord… I couldn't leave here knowing that they would suffer horrible fates."

Night-wing kissed Starfire again replying.

"that's the thing I love most about you…. of course I'll….. we'll help"

'nice little boy but who will help you…?'

At this point lord Damyn entered the prison cell consuming the flesh of a creature or most likely one of his slaves. As he approached the two Titans Night-wing prepared himself for a fight, lord Damyn visibly grinning.

' what puny creature like you could do to me all alone'?

Starfire quickly translating everything he said to Night-wing as Night-wing taunted right back.

" on the off chance you're not as stupid as you look…. did no one ever tell you it's rude to talk with your mouth full?"

Whether lord Damyn understood Night-wing's taunt or not he quickly and ferociously charged at the young hero who in return dodged with some effort the wipes of the brute using his acrobatic skills while trying to land blows on the enemy's pressure points, however, that didn't seem to do any actual damage just slowing the adversary down.

' no worries…. change of tactics.'

With that in mind he switched to his escrima sticks, landing blow after blow trying to stun the black mass of muscle and after a quick succession of blows to the abdomen and head he finally managed to stun the bastard for a few seconds, long enough for him to reach for his communicator.

"Superman…. if the offer stands I could use your…."

But before he could finish Superman flew as fast as he can passing Night-wing colliding with lord Damyn, carrying him off to another battlefield away from Night-wing and Starfire, with Night-wing finishing his sentence.

"help…."

With that said and done Night-wing quickly figured out how to let everyone escape as he hurried to try and send every slave first to their homes while Starfire joined a battle being fought with Hawk and Dove against the rest of lord Damyn's platoons.

"we need to buy Richard as much time as possible…"

Half jokingly and half agitated Hawk responded.

" and when does his highness will grace us with his presence?"

Starfire answered him with a straight forward answer.

"he's busy at the moment freeing prisoners being held by these warlords"

Dove at this point joined the conversation.

"it would be more helpful if…"

But before she could complete her sentence Night-wing showed up with a battalion of male and female slaves a like, attacking some of the soldiers trying to flank Hawk, Dove and Starfire. Hawk at this point gave the following remark.

"looks like great minds think alike."

Speaking of minds, back at the world of eternal ice age, Raven tried to keep herself alive and busy by hunting, foraging and skinning animals in the hopes when help does arrive, they won't have to carry an ice sculpture back to base, little did she know that the cavalry where on their way as she kept herself busy. As a portal opened a few thousand miles away from where Raven was Beast boy and Wonder Girl stepped out into the harsh weather.

" I told you we should've brought more sweaters….."

Feeling the cold running down her spine from within the warm confines of her winter gear Wonder Girl replied a bit impatiently.

" can you can it for a few while I try to think?… anyway can't you turn into a polar bear or other warm blooded creature?"

Beast boy looked around comically before giving his reply.

"gee I would… if there were any living animals on this godforsaken planet…."

At this point Wonder Girl apologized to Beast boy while continuing the conversation.

"any idea on where to go from here?"

Beast boy thought for a few seconds before concluding.

" I got nothing specific….. I only know that we need to find shelter before we get frostbites."

Wonder Girl had no arguments there so they set off trying to find shelter on this desolate world. As both Titans began to walk Beast boy had an idea, maybe he could locate Raven using her communicator, with that he fished out the device, trying to get it to work as a makeshift radar but alas there was no signal coming through.

' well… there goes this plan to shit….'

A few hours later both Beast boy and Wonder Girl found a cave to hide from the storm however the problem was that within the cave there was no warmth, it was as bad as it was outside.

"well one thing is for sure. In the end we'll be well preserved Titans…."

With that remark Beast boy got an upside slap to the head by Wonder Girl. At that Beast boy mouthed 'ouch' as he tried to move about exploring the cave a little more, hoping to get a feeling back to his body. After about half an hour Beast boy started to feel hungry so he found Wonder Girl on his way out.

" heading outside to find some food and supplies… be right back…"

Wonder Girl replied the following.

" let's just hope you'll find something out there."

Sensing her worry beast boy ended the conversation jokingly.

" don't worry I'll find something… besides if things gets desperate I'm sure we'll burn our clothes and resort to cannibalism… in the meantime we've got chicken soup in a thermos… I think… unless it's frozen chicken soup…"

Wonder Girl cut off his ramblings.

"just go before you'll tempt me to punch you in the jaw…"

At that Wonder Girl/Donna started to laugh a little to herself as Beast boy gave a mock salute, venturing back out into the cold harsh weather. As he got outside he tried to morph into a polar bear however it proved useless due to him being too hungry to keep himself in a morphed state, instead he conserved his energy and began trekking the terrain. A few hours has passed as Beast boy searched high and low for food and materials to start a small fire, mentally doing anything to keep track on where he's been and how to get back to Wonder Girl, making a small mental note as he continued on the path that he was on.

' well at the very least I get a dose of fresh air and exercise for the day '

After that thought passed his mind he found something interesting, not food or firewood but he noticed another cave, and it seemed lit from the inside. Against his instincts to approach the lit cave, Beast boy chose to wait it out a bit longer surveying the cave from the outside, waiting for whomever inhabited it to come out. It didn't take long though as a small figure came out and as the figure came out he sensed something familiar about it, though he he couldn't make it out from a distance, so he relied on his sense of smell and hearing, once the figure's scent hit his nose he immediately recognized it.

'Raven…!'

With that revelation in mind he quickly dashed out towards the figure. Sprinting as fast as he could on the snow he quickly embraced the figure in a giant hug, surprising her.

" Raven…. my god you're alive… I've been worried sick…"

Raven in her trademark sarcastic sense of humor quipped the following.

"what took you so long?"

At that Beast boy just laughed as he continued to hug her some more, brushing his nose against hers as he was smiling warmly.

"trust me it's a really long story…."

At this Raven just nodded staying in his embrace a bit longer before finally stating.

" are you gonna keep hugging me for much longer?…. this is getting kinda awkward."

At that Beast boy smiled at her apologetically as he slowly got distance between the two of them breaking their embrace before stating.

"sorry you're just really warm…."

With that he closed their distance yet again stating.

"have you got a fever?"

Checking Raven's temple for a fever Beast boy couldn't determine conclusively to which she replied with.

"it's not a fever per say….. I'm using an internal force to keep me from freezing to death."

Beast boy was about to ask what kind of force but Raven convinced him to drop the subject so he quickly changed the conversation.

" do you think you have enough strength to teleport us out of here?….. Wonder Girl is here too and she's waiting for us to get home."

Raven hearing that reached her hands towards Beast boy's temple as she explained what she was doing.

" I'm reading your mind so no funny business….."

Beast boy at that couldn't help but quip.

"not until we get home right?"

Raven at that just gave him a silent harsh stare telling him 'focus' as she rummaged through his mind, more precisely memories, until she found the necessary information to teleport them both. After a few minutes she let go of him conjuring up a portal for them to cross, Beast boy at that picked Raven up bridal style as he began crossing with her through the portal.

"please put me down…. I'm not tired enough to walk….."

Beast boy at that gave her a genuine smile saying.

" I know….. we got a fierce battle still a head of us….. so conserve your strength."

Crossing from the other side Beast boy and Raven were greeted by Wonder Girl eating the chicken soup from the thermos.

"nice of you lovebirds to come back…."

Beast boy gave a small smile whispering.

"it's good to be back….. can we go home now?… my ass froze awhile ago."

Wonder Girl gave him a wry smile stating.

"thank goodness….. I thought for a moment you'd forget to ask."

With that Wonder Girl conjured the warp hole back to their dimension as Both Titans stepped in and emerging out into the Bat cave being greeted by Alfred and Batman, with the latter cutting in.

" I wish there was time for niceties but I got an urgent call from Night-wing he needs backup."

Beast boy understanding this replied the following.

"tell him I'm on my way…. Donna I'll leave you to watch Raven for me…."

Wonder Girl at that gave him a shit eating grin, silently asking 'is she gonna hatch?' to which Beast boy just replied with.

"please just make sure she receives the best medical care she can get…"

At that Wonder Girl just gave him an encouraging and friendly push forward, reassuring him Raven's in good hands, with that Beast boy quickly got the coordinates from Batman, opening the portal to Night-wing's last known location as he jumped in. Now carrying Raven to the Bat cave's medical bay Wonder Girl addressed Alfred who followed her suit.

"now before you say anything you have my word as a gentleman and an officer that young miss Raven is safe and secure with me…. now run along and save the last of your friends."

With that Wonder Girl gave a warm hug to the elderly man before returning towards the Bat computer and terminal. A few minutes later Beast boy popped out of the warp portal only to land in the middle of a battle between the Teen Titans and a group of strange looking aliens, and coming from him?, that said a lot.

"nice of you to join us….." hawk said as he punched one of lord Damyn's soldiers repeatedly in the throat. "don't stand around like a dumb-ass with a finger up your tail pipe…. give us a hand if you got it."

At this point the soldier got knocked out but unfortunately for Hawk another group of five soldiers came at him from all sides, that is until what looked like a giant tail came sweeping by knocking them a few meters away. At this point the tail was revealed to be connected to a green T-Rex, the dinosaur gave a thundering roar before reverting back to Beast boy.

"do you expect a thank you?…"

Beast boy knowing that this is Hawk's signature sense of humor reciprocated back.

"a pat on the back would be nice too….."

Hawk grinning gave a pat that felt like a slap to the back as they both hurried inside looking for more soldiers to fight as beast boy quickly got an update from night-wing about the situation.

" okay so let me get it straight we're acting as an intergalactic public transport as some ugly ass aliens are popping from all over trying to kill us….. is that right?"

Night-wing just gave an affirmative nod to which Beast boy continued.

"and superman's fighting their head honcho?"

With that Beast boy asked where to find Superman before transforming into a pterodactyl taking off in the same direction to which Hawk thought silently.

'kid's crazier than me'

As Beast boy tore through the strange sky as a pterodactyl his mind caught up to his actions.

' oh great…. I'm about to head into almost certain death aiding a guy who in most cases acts like the life line for others that needs rescuing….. oh well I may end up not helping but I can at least cause a distraction for the others to escape….'

Locating Superman wasn't very hard. All Beast boy had to do was look for a pinball darting around wearing the colors of America, however what surprised Beast boy was that Superman was having a tough time against an opponent who can barely give pro wrestlers a proper workout. Descending fast Beast boy transformed back into human form and then into an Ankylosaurus, swiping it's mace like tail at the enemy, however the foe caught the tail mid swing and tossed the dinosaur back at Superman making it crash into him, sending them both flying.

"are you okay?"

A dazed and disoriented Beast boy transformed back to default mode before answering.

" I should be asking you that…"

Superman relieved both of them were relatively unharmed continued the conversation.

" I'll be okay for now…. we need to wrap up this fight fast though….. I need yellow sun's radiation to charge myself up and so far as I know….. there isn't one around anywhere….."

Beast boy thought for a moment before answering.

" I got something that might work….. a trick Batman taught me…. but I'll need some backup….. feeling up for it?"

Superman smirked while remarking.

" the old pressure points technique?… make sure to hit him extra hard…"

Knowing what Superman meant both heroes charged at their behemoth of a foe, Superman from above using his laser beams and freeze breath while Beast boy came from ground level in the form of a triceratops. While Superman's laser beams and freeze breath held back lord Damyn long enough he eventually got free of it's hold only to come face to face with the green dinosaur, just at the point of collision though the green dinosaur changed forms to a green silver back gorilla and started landing hits on lord Damyn's left arm, the hits however did not phase the warlord.

' was that suppose to hurt? '

Beast boy however did not respond, quite frankly he didn't understand him at all, he did however gestured him to try and move his left arm. As lord Damyn tried to move his left appendage, he to his horror discovered it was rendered useless.

' you insect what have you done…..!?'

Beast boy again not understanding a single word, really when will this guy learn, he did however went straight to the other arm, lord Damyn however this put up a fight trying anything to dodge and block the green vermin before him only to feel a light tap on the shoulder this time. Turning his head to see who it was he saw the fist of the Kryptonian heading straight for his face and when it collided lord Damyn was sent flying losing consciousness in the process.

"you better go help your teammates I got this."

Giving a nod Beast boy tried to turn into a pterodactyl again only this time he reverted back to hi human form stating.

" I'm okay I just need to rest a bit…"

At this point Starfire and the rest of the Titans were heading their way.

" you alright there pal?, you look green… well greener around the gills."

At that both Beast boy and Night-wing gave Hawk a death glare telling him effectively to shut up before Dove intervened.

"look before we start anything…. we've got an alien criminal on the loose and we still have one more team member to rescue from god knows what… so let's focus on that."

Starfire took the opportunity to take charge.

"Dove is most correct therefore Dove will accompany me and Night-wing for Tamaran to thwart my sister while Hawk, Beast boy and Superman will return to earth to continue the rescue efforts."

At this Dove interfered.

"as much as I'd like to help I think Raven is a much better choice to accompany you… besides Chaos needs to be balanced by Order."

Starfire at first didn't fully understand what Dove meant however it slowly sunk in as the Titans and Superman present opened up the warp portal back to earth, mid transit through the portal Hawk got intimately closer to Dove asking.

"Chaos's balanced by order?…. is that how young kids call it nowadays?"

Dove cheekily smirked answering him.

" I have no idea what you're talking about…."

As the Titans and Superman made it back to the Bat cave Night-wing spoke up.

"make sure you're well rested and in a clean bill of health cause the moment when we've recharged we're going after Blackfire and Cyborg respectively."

With that everyone dispersed to their own business.

Superman at this time took the initiative to update Batman on the events that unfolded while Batman himself took the appropriate measures to contact the Justice League and update them as well, mainly updating Green Lantern, Martian man-hunter and Flash, in the meantime Starfire, Night-wing and Beast boy checked themselves into the infirmary since they sustained the most damage.

" I can't leave you for one hour without you nearly killing yourself….."

Beast boy at that looked up to see Raven walking up and about.

"well if it isn't my favorite doctor….."

Raven just sighed in defeat, she couldn't stay mad at him for long anyway.

"stay still this may sting a bit."

At that Raven began healing Beast boy as the process was more painful than usual which made Beast boy squirm and wiggle in discomfort replying.

"Ouch…. you said it's going to sting a bit…. this isn't a sting….. that's a pain from hell….."

Night-wing from the other side of the room chipped into the conversation.

"considering we survived an alien battle without losing any limbs you should consider yourself lucky that you can feel anything….."

At that Starfire replied to her lover.

" enough of that…. we all need a well deserved rest…"

At that Night-wing smirked at Starfire, capturing her lips with a kiss silently saying.

'god I missed you so much….'

Almost a full hour had passed and by that point the Teen Titans has split into two groups, one group consisted of Starfire,Night-wing, Beast boy and Raven whom were preparing themselves to head towards Tamaran to try and stop Blackfire while Hawk,Dove and Wonder Girl stayed behind to try and locate Cyborg, hopefully rescue him in one piece, as they both made the necessary progress on their end they still were taken by surprise at what happened next. A warp portal much like what they were using in the middle of the Bat cave.

" did you press something accidentally?"

Night-wing gave Beast boy a silent look that said 'really…..?' before a golden tan warrior dressed in red a blue armor came up towards Starfire placing a small kiss on her lips.

" princess Koryand'r it has been a while…."

Koryand'r/Starfire at this point recognized the young man exclaiming.

"Karras!?…. is it really you…..?"

Karras gave a small curt nod before kneeling down replying.

"it's captain now."

Beast boy at this point interrupted this exchange.

"well captain….. mind filling us in on what clearly to you seems like….. oh I don't know…. obvious?"

At this point a confused Night-wing chimed in with a remark of his own.

"and more importantly…. care to share how you knew where to find the princess precisely?"

At this moment Batman returned back to the Bat cave.

" I am responsible for that…. Green Lantern alerted me of the Tamaranian's presence in our solar system."

With that Night-wing took a glance over Karras, thinking before asking his next question.

"now the question remains, are you working for or against Blackfire?"

Karras requested clarification from Koryand'r which she quickly and efficiently provided before nodding and giving his answer.

" I can understand why you don't trust me….. the device which brought me here is how would you say it….. spoils of combat."

Hearing that Night-wing asked the following question, even though in his mind he already anticipated the answer.

"she's mass producing that device isn't she?"

Karras nodded before responding.

"i am afraid it is as you say….. that is why we must depart for Tamaran at once!"

With that Night-wing's and Starfire's team went along with Karras, opening the warp portal, leaving Hawk, Dove and Wonder Girl behind leading Hawk to say.

" don't mind us… apparently we're just slabs of meat…"

Batman at that replied him with the following.

" it's nothing personal…. now back to work.

At that Hawk released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding as he got quickly into researching where Cyborg 'landed'.

When the warp portal opened again Karras and the Teen Titans ended up on a space port outside of Tamaran's orbit, making everyone minus Starfire speechless well almost everyone save for Beast boy.

" call me crazy but weren't we supposed to take the express way to Tamaran?"

At that Raven shut his mouth using her powers to which he resisted comically before she spoke up addressing Karras.

"my apologies Beast boy lacks tact sometimes…."

To that Karras just smiled a wry smile answering back.

" no apology is needed… I myself from time to time lack tactfulness.…."

Karras at that point continued addressing the entire group.

"i forgot to mention that Komand'r has the planet's airways under surveillance….. so we must take every precaution not to be seen."

Everyone accepted the reasoning as another female tamaranian approached Karras, they both exchanged a small kiss before she addressed them directly.

"greetings my name is Taryia I am captain Karras's second in command…. please follow me to the ship you would be taking to our home planet….. quickly we have no time to lose…."

As she said she showed them to the ship while everyone took their place, Karras however got delayed a bit, a fact that didn't escape Night-wing, however due to the urgency of the situation he chose to confront his suspicions another day as Karras finally joined them accompanied by Taryia giving the pilot the go to take off towards Tamaran.

"are you nervous Richard?…. I know I am just a little…"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 07: **let the rebellion commence.

' for as long as I lived I can account for a few times I was genuinely nervous…. the first time was when I mounted the trapeze with my parents, the second was accompanying Batman on patrol the first time as Robin and this time, visiting Tamaran, Star's home world for the first time…..and not for the obvious reasons though they're a factor…..'

The Tamaranian spaceship made swift reentry into the planet's atmosphere and made an even quicker traverse to it's destination. For Starfire the speed of the craft had no effect however her earth friends and family needed a little more time to adjust, with Beast boy having to wobble a bit before finding his footing and balance while Richard/Night-wing needing to clear his throat and pop his ears for a few seconds.

"friends…. is everything alright?" Starfire asked with worry clear in her tone, Beast boy however quickly defused her worries

"everything's fine…. thank goodness though we didn't have an in flight lunch…"

To that Night-wing and Raven replied simultaneously.

"for once we agree with you."

As soon as the spaceship's doors opened Starfire quickly made it outside with nerves quite visible on her features, Night-wing went to calm her down but as soon as he made a few steps out a large Tamaranian man and a woman charged at Starfire/Koryand'r with tears of joy on their faces, showering her with affection.

'X'hal be praised….. our daughter has returned.'

At that Koryand'r shared lip contact with the man which in turned shared it with the woman.

" you there….. come forth…"

Night-wing noticed he was being summoned by presumably Starfire's father and by extension the ruling king of Tamaran which made him a tad nervous and self aware, to which Beast boy quietly whispered.

"well….. it's been nice knowing you…."

Under his Breath Night-wing responded 'your faith in me is overwhelming' before he made his approach to wards Starfire and her Family, bowing slightly before making eye contact with them.

" am I to assume that you are the one who won over my daughter's affection?"

Night-wing with all sincerity replied the following.

"one small correction your highness….. it was mutual for the both of us."

At that point king Myand'r gestured Night-wing into a bone crushing embrace saying the following.

"then on behalf of all of Tamaran I welcome you all….. tonight we will have a feast in honor of my daughter's long awaited return and her new found friends"

Koryand'r was thrilled at first until she remembered the following.

"father please release our guest… I believe he's in a lot of pain."

Realizing this king Myand'r quickly released Night-wing apologizing profusely to which Night-wing replied.

"there's no need for apologies I have been through much worse….. though aren't we here to stop a rebellion?"

At this point King Myand'r reassured Night-wing.

"do not concern yourself…. there would be plenty of time to concern ourselves with politics after a feast and a much needed rest."

Night-wing didn't object to the reasoning, heck it was sound and logical considering the battle the Teen Titans would face, sensing that the young man accepted the gracious invitation king Myand'r offered the following.

"please allow my men to carry some of the luggage you brought with you…"

To that Night-wing politely responded with.

"oh thank you but we haven't brought much… besides Beast boy can handle it…. can't you?"

At that Beast boy replied after hearing his name mentioned in the conversation.

"sure I can….."

At that the rest of the Teen Titans and the Tamaranian entourage began their journey towards the royal palace leaving Beast boy behind to finish his sentence.

" I can whether I want to or not is an entire matter…."

About half an hour passed by with Beast boy having transformed into a native flying creature, catching the others in the process, was now soaking in the scenery as he approached the palace's entrance transforming back to his default mode as king Myand'r addressed them all.

" I wish to welcome you to our humble abode….."

Beast boy keeping his mouth shut for now was thinking to himself.

' humble? This makes Disneyland look like a public playground'

At that Night-wing remarked.

"thanks for having us….. Beast boy, be of use and carry the bags to our rooms would you kindly?"

Beast boy, being patient but not pleased, regained his strength as he asked just one question.

"can someone show us o our room?….. thank you."

With in 15 minutes the Teen Titans were shown to their rooms, a shared room for Night-wing and Starfire/princess Koryand'r and separate rooms for Beast boy and Raven, as Beast boy unloaded his friend's bags one by one he finally got to his room. Overcome with tiredness and exhaustion he staggered inside he was met with a slight surprise, he was met with a larger than life room overlooking an exquisite view, however that was not what surprised him, greeting him were Tamaranian girls around his age, hand maidens if he had to guess, wearing nothing but see trough robes. A bit shocked he couldn't find words to what's happening as one of of the maidens approached him with a chaste kiss on the lips.

"greetings oh honorable guest…. we have been sent by the order of king Myand'r to ensure our guest's every needs is properly met… we are at your service…."

Beast boy now finding his brain properly working again replied calmly, well semi calmly.

"thanks… will you excuse me for a moment I need a breath of fresh air….."

As he said that he went outside his room to look for Raven in the hopes that she could calm him down from all the craziness that went on not minutes ago. In the meantime Night-wing was taking a shower as Starfire/Koryand'r re-acclimated back in her old bedroom after being away for what seemed like an eternity.

' everything is the same as I left it so why does it feel so foreign'

With that thought stuck in her head Night-wing stepped out of the shower, giving her a small kiss on her forehead as he fished out his communicator, contacting the rest of the Titans back on earth.

" Night-wing to Titans…. come in please… does anyone read?"

After a few minutes of inactivity Hawk responded back.

"sure some of us read….. some of us can even write too…"

Night-wing gave a dry laugh before continuing.

" any sign of life from Cyborg yet?"

Hawk responded accordingly.

"not yet but we're narrowing it down… figured so far he ended up on a world without tech at the ready….. but still leaves quite a few options to explore."

Night-wing concluded the conversation with the following.

"alright keep me posted with updates on your progress."

A few minutes after Night-wing closed his communicator he took a few silent moments to himself.

' come on Cyborg…. where the hell are you?…..'

3 days earlier with Cyborg, an unidentified location.

When the portal Cyborg has fallen into opened up in what in all tense and purposes was a forest clearing, not a moment later Cyborg fell trough landing with a crash like a human sized paper weight. Groaning from pain Cyborg could only think to himself before passing out was.

'where the hell am I…..'

With that Cyborg passed out unaware that mysterious figures approached him from behind. Cyborg after a long while came to what looked like an underground prison cell, normally he would just bust out of there kicking ass to the fools who threw him there but there was a slight hiccup to that idea, he was awoken to be found chained to the wall of his prison cell with his cybernetic limbs stripped down only to be left with an exoskeleton.

"what the fuck is going on here?"

After a few minutes of silence Cyborg/Victor Stone was about to raise hell however a stranger stopped him.

" save your breath for the arena…. you'll need it….."

Looking around to see who spoke up he didn't find anyone, that is until he looked down to see an elderly muscular man with crude cybernetic enhancements replacing one of his shoulders, his jaw and his left eye.

"hey old man are you okay?"

The old man did not answer at first, he thought about his answer.

"well that depends purely on your definition… for now though I'm grateful not to be dead."

Cyborg trying not to laugh at the old man's remark simply settled for asking the following.

"well that's something… by the way what did you mean by arena?"

The old man quickly catching on where the cybernetic stranger was coming from, briefly explained what's going on.

"technology around this parts are the luxury of the elite and the strong, so every few months monarchies from far and wide hold gladiatorial matches if they find people undeserving to wield technology…."

At that moment a couple of what appeared to be guards/jailers came in for Cyborg/Victor and the elderly man, releasing them both from their restraints as they led them towards the arena. Once stepping foot in said arena Cyborg surveyed his surrounding taking a few mental notes on how to escape like where are guards situated, structural integrity and so forth until something or rather someone caught his eyes. Walking to the middle boxed sit of the arena was someone who could be assumed to be an emperor or at the very least a senate member or local Governor, the first thing Cyborg noticed was that like him he was mostly cybernetic and his human parts where covered by Roman style clothing and his human face was hidden by a mask fashioned in the likeness of Greek and Roman statues and as he raised his hand the audience in the gallery quieted down to give him the proper attention.

"hey you….. mind telling me what the hell have you done with my tech and body parts?…."

The high ranking official ignored him however still waiting for the audience's silence.

"hey I'm talking to you asshole….. answer me."

At this point however the official answered back.

" such uncivilized behavior… if you must know savage we're selling off your armor and tech for the highest bidder….. maybe then someone will make good use of it."

Cyborg/Victor bit his lips in anger trying to calm himself down as he drew deep breaths before responding back.

"unlikely when I'm done with you there won't be enough of you to toss into the scrap heap.

Unimpressed the official gave a sarcastic smile offering the following.

"you're high spirited for a savage… tell you what, if you defeat my gladiators in this arena I'll consider restoring your body to the state we found you in…. and if you should happen to lose….. well at least you'll give my subjects some cheap entertainment."

With that cyborg/Victor agreed getting himself ready for a fight. Over the next 3 days Cyborg wound up fighting against other gladiators with cybernetic enhancements, a variety of ferocious animals and even hybrids of both men and beasts, all for the shot of piecing himself together, both figuratively and literally and as the master of ceremonies declared he allowed him to restore himself, the catch however was that the parts provided for such restoration were either worn out, cheap or rusting away, Cyborg in the meantime kept his mouth shut long enough in the hopes of a satisfying ass kicking.

"congratulations young one… very few survive in this arena for more than a couple of days."

Cyborg/Victor smiled kindly as he replied.

"thanks."

Seeing the old man struggling with his cybernetic parts Cyborg decided to give the elderly man a tune up as well. As Cyborg approached the elder one beginning the tune up said man's only reply was.

"though I'm grateful for the kindness you're showing me… you'll most likely to regret it once they decide to pit us against each other in combat…"

At that Cyborg/Victor began to laugh a little replying.

" I rather risk losing a fair fight than win a rigged one."

At that the elderly man smiled wisely as he asked.

" I see you have much wisdom in you… say were you a king by any chance before you arrived here…?"

Cyborg/Victor wasn't sure on how to answer that so he humbly replied the following.

"no I am no king… I am a Titan."

Meanwhile a few miles outside the arena another warp hole was beginning to open and As the portal opened wider Hawk, Dove and Wonder Girl quickly passed through landing in a rural country side.

" I would've said we're not in Kansas anymore but it looks like it very well may be."

Ignoring the forced pun Wonder Girl quickly took charge.

"everyone turn on your communicators, we have to zero in on Cyborg's signal."

At that Hawk quipped back as he and Dove fished out their communicators, tinkering away in the hope of finding a signal.

"you forgot to say please…"

Within a few minutes all of them managed to pinpoint Cyborg's location, to which Dove calmly responded.

"good news, he's alive… bad news, he's not within walking distance.

Hawk cut her off saying.

"not a problem I got an idea…"

That idea was to try and hitchhike to where Cyborg was, so the Titans waited patiently until a wagon with wine and wheat passed them by, at this moment Hawk stopped the wagon turning on his charm and diplomacy skills.

" good day there old man mind taking me and this here lovely ladies into the nearest city?"

The old man in question gave them a defiant look, not trusting them so Hawk resorted to a passive aggressive, well mostly aggressive tone.

" I'm not giving you much options here… now will you kindly give us a lift into town?"

With that the frightened old man relented with Hawk, Dove and Wonder Girl climbing aboard.

The road into town was filled with bumps and pot holes which greatly annoyed the Teen Titans, but not mores so than hawk who silently muttered to himself.

'gee can the ride be anymore tougher?…. I don't feel my testicles hitting the back of my throat yet….'

As the Titans got off the wagon they quickly tried to blend in with the locals, key words being tried because the minute the emperial guards at the city found them a whole fight broke loose with Hawk knocking the guards unconscious after the guards themselves got a few jabs in for good measure.

"quickly change into their uniforms… we could wander around gathering Intel without rousing suspicion…"

Wonder Girl just gave him a dirty and sarcastic silent look that said 'now why I didn't think of that?'. Hawk on his end just replied impatiently.

"can we just hurry already?, I don't plan on booking a vacation here you know."

Speaking of vacation, back on Tamaran nightfall quickly came and as everyone rested and gathered up their strength Night-wing in an uneasy mood strolled around the palace until he came across King Myand'r on the royal balcony overlooking his kingdom.

"greetings….. why aren't you resting soundly in bed?… we've got quite the journey ahead of us."

Night-wing, ever so the diplomat, politely replied.

" I couldn't fall asleep…"

At that king Myand'r warmly smiled at him stating.

" I've being led to believe it's more than just mere excitement correct?"

Night-wing couldn't help but give a wry smile at King Myand'r's intuition as he continued the conversation.

"well your grace I have a suspicion…. that after the situation with princess Komand'r is resolved you'll ask your youngest daughter to wed out of political reasoning…."

King Myand'r gave a firm nod which made Night-wing continue.

" I see….. is it safe to assume that her betrothed is none other than captain Karras?"

King Myand'r did not react at first, however he did continue the conversation.

" you assume correctly on both accounts…. may I assume that you would like to challenge my authority on such a decision since you care deeply for my daughter?"

Night-wing was a bit surprised by king Myand'r's response before kicking himself for forgetting that a kiss is more than just a kiss for Tamaranians before he quickly composed himself, replying the following.

" as much as I'd like to challenge your authority on the matter I cannot…. it's a matter bigger than just one person's life that is at stake….. and in good conscious I could never forgive myself for acting out of shear selfishness."

King Myand'r, touched by the nobility shown before him, motioned him to stay besides him a bit longer, to take in the beauty of his home planet Tamaran and as Night-wing took in the sight of the planet in much greater detail he was pleasantly surprised when King Myand'r addressed him again.

" a thought occurred to me… while an alliance between kingdoms might be grand, an alliance between planets just may very well be grander"

Catching on to king Myand'r's meaning Night-wing reached for his mask, removing it he responded the following.

"between one diplomat to another…. I'll sleep on the idea."

King Myand'r gave him a knowing yet scolding smirk silently saying to him ' I understood what you did there' before Night-wing/Richard innocently shrugged silently replying ' I have no idea what you're talking about' before taking his leave, on his way back he suddenly stopped as he spoke up.

" about the whole affair with captain Karras… can I count on you to handle the news of our little discussion….. I rather not cause a planetary incident."

At that King Myand'r gave a hearty laugh stating.

" has anyone told you that for a young man you worry too much?"

Night-wing/Richard gave a small laugh of his own.

"multiple sire…. however I'd like to think that I worry enough."

The very next day king Myand'r gathered a few of his best men and women as well as inviting Captain Karras, Koryand'r and Richard/Night-wing to join them on a morning hunt, he extended the offer to his other guests as well however Beast boy and Raven politely declined each stating their own reasons for their refusal, king Myand'r while a bit disappointed instructed the royal staff to wait on their guests head and toe until he'd return from the hunt.

The Ymeer forests to the north of Tamarus capital of Tamaran.

As Richard/Night-wing tried to get a hang of riding an alien steed there was one still concern still on his mind.

" I remember you said the hunt was a tradition….. as part of Tamaran's hospitality….. however , what's stopping Komand'r from attacking the capital when our guard's down?"

King Myand'r simply stated.

"that is her biggest weakness… she's bound to our ancient traditions….. she would never risk defiling them."

Having that bit of knowledge set aside Night-wing/Richard concentrated solely on the hunting trip ahead learning a few things along the way. Chief of them were that King Myand'r, while having great enthusiasm, had little talent in tracking or hunting, second, the creatures they were hunting possess telepathic communication skills ,thirdly, the term hunting could be loosely defined as a game of tag using rifles that projected electronic nets and finally, the alien steed he was provided with had limited maneuvering capability on mountainous terrains as he almost learned the hard way, luckily for him Star was there to save him.

"thanks…"

Koryand'r smiled at him kindly with a mischievous smile on her face as she whispered.

" you are most welcome darling… I'll have you repay me in bed for your over enthusiasm…."

Night-wing smirked back replying.

"now now what would your parents say about that…."

With that both started to laugh as they and the rest of the group settled down for late lunch near a forest clearing as the afternoon drew near by.

" family… dear friends and honored guest…. I wanted to speak to you all away from the castle…. especially you my daughter….."

At that princess Koryand'r politely interrupted.

" I'm afraid I've been aware for quite some time on what it is you wanted to discuss with me father…. however I have new responsibilities to my second home…. earth."

At that king Myand'r smiled upon his clever daughter, replying with.

" you are as sharp as your mother my sweet… however there is still the question of Tamaran's fate to consider, marry to unite the kingdoms from within the planet or forge an alliance with another… let's say earth perhaps?"

At that point Koryand'r caught on to what her father was inferring which manifested with mixed emotions, on the on hand she would've loved nothing more to marry Richard but not at the cost of either doing it under political pressure or causing Night-wing further pressure by forcing him to marry her, luckily and surprisingly for her captain Karras intervened.

"with all due respect my liege I went along with this political marriage to secure our planet's fate…. and with all due respect for Koryand'r and her friends, let us defeat Komand'r and her rebel forces before we decide further about Tamaran's fate."

With that king Myand'r decided to leave the subject for now as the hunting party decided to head back to the palace to continue with the festivities as Starfire and Night-wing brought up the rear with captain Karras in toe.

"thank you captain….. I couldn't have said it better myself."

Karras however took on a serious expression as he replied.

" do not be mistaken Night-wing I did not speak on your behalf…. I spoke on mine alone."

Night-wing at that only raised an eyebrow saying silently 'well this could've been handled better…..' to which at that Starfire/Koryand'r got closer to Night-wing gently caressing his arm.

" I need you to understand something…. Karras has always been prideful, he does not hate you…. in fact he bears no hatred towards anyone…"

At that Night-wing gently smiled at her, replying with.

"thank you Star… you just gave me a good idea on how to kill two birds with one stone."

Starfire/Koryand'r gave him a funny look to which he gave her a knowing smirk which made them both laugh as they caught up with the rest of the hunting party.

As the festivities commenced the Teen Titans present minus Starfire were introduced to the rest of the guests which included key fighters/soldiers serving under captain Karras, his royal family, queen Salja and king Tharras and eventually arriving just a bit later was Koryand'r's younger brother prince Ryand'r and a group of Vegan heroes known as The Omega men. As the feast continued on into the early evening princess Koryand'r caught up with her brother as Night-wing sat at his seat attentive as Raven and Beast boy, each in their own way enjoyed their evening.

" is anything the matter young man?…. you seem a bit distant."

Night-wing noticing that Koryand'r's mother addressed him, replied to her with respect and humility.

"thanks for your concern my lady… nothing's the matter, I'm just preoccupied a little."

Koryand'r's mother at that continued the conversation, a bit flattered.

" please young one call me by my given name, Luand'r…. may I ask as to what you are preoccupied with?"

Night-wing/Richard having a good impression of her has decided to share the idea that he and Starfire had came up with to which queen Luand'r took an immediate liking to concluding the conversation with a toast.

" fellow beloved neighbors and family our new guest has something he would like to propose….."

With that Night-wing/ Richard took over.

" thank you queen Luand'r… though I may not be familiar with most of your customs… I have come to be familiar with your plight for stability and all that it ensues… though I would love to leave it to the kingdoms to decide on their own matters…. I cannot forsake the freedom of my friends, family and loved one… so I propose a friendly competition to settle the matter where the winner would be granted to decide his own future in the matter…"

King Tharras surprised by the event gave a small silent stare towards king Myand'r silently saying ' are you certain that boy is no politician?'

As the festivities came to a conclusion the Teen Titans plus the honored guests went their separate ways, that is except for a few , Raven, Beast boy and king Tharras, with Raven passing Night-wing giving him a silent stare telling him ' I sure hope you know what you're doing' followed up by Beast boy who comically exclaimed " I hate you…." and finally king Tharras approaching just a few moments later after Night-wing's friends got further away.

" a moment if you please?"

Night-wing/Richard respectfully bowed giving him his attention.

" thank you young one….. I appreciate your intent behind your words."

Night-wing continued the conversation.

"you're welcome….. though I'm if the roles were reversed prince Karras would've extended the same courtesy."

Hearing that king Tharras couldn't help but roar with laughter as he exclaimed.

"such words forged with a sharp tongue….. you should definitely be the son of a statesman….."

Wearing a smile of his own Night-wing/ Richard replied.

" not a statesman my grace just the son of an humble aristocrat."

Speaking of aristocrats, back in the Bat cave Batman himself has managed the feet of establishing contact with the Titans who went after Cyborg.

" Titans….. progress report…."

With that Wonder Girl responded back.

"we've found Cyborg…. he's been held prisoner in a coliseum of sorts… we'll report further once we'll infiltrate it….. Wonder Girl out…"

As the Titans made their way through the coliseum, Haw stayed behind to serve as a distraction as Dove and Wonder Girl made their way to the dungeons knocking out some guards along the way. Once they discovered Cyborg a small feeling of shock came over them before they released him from his cell.

" what took you guys so long?"

Recognizing his humorous tone they awkwardly laughed a little before Cyborg begged them to release the other prisoners and fight alongside with him to overthrow the senate member running this shit show, at this point Hawk caught up with the rest.

" Vic…. what the hell?, you look like crap."

Cyborg/Victor simply replied.

"thanks captain obvious."

Hawk continued the conversation nonchalantly yet still with a decisive tone to it.

"well don't know how else to break it to ya but I've seen aluminum cans more well constructed than you right now… Dove, go back home with him, Wonder Girl and I will catch with you later after some well deserved clean up."

Cyborg was about to protest as Wonder Girl opened up the warp hole with the Titan's tower in mind but before he could get a word in Hawk pushed him through with Dove on his tail.

"ready to kick some ass Wonder Girl?"

As Wonder Girl freed a good portion of the other prisoners including the old man Cyborg befriended she replied the following.

"like you really need to ask…"

With that he just gave a smirk leading the slaves into battle. As Hawk and Wonder Girl lead the slaves into battle Cyborg yet again found himself thrust through a warp portal, however this time he landed in a familiar place, home,Titan's tower followed up by Dove.

"tell that boyfriend of yours next time I lock eyes with him I'm gonna kick his ass for what he pulled."

With that Dove just gave a shrug as Cyborg sighed out in frustration before contacting one doctor Silas Stone as Dove contacted Batman.

"Dove to Batman we've managed to bring Cyborg back safely home…. Wonder Girl and Hawk stayed behind giving us time to escape, they may need backup…. sending their coordinates now."

About 2 hours passed as Silas Stone walked into Titans tower with a couple of briefcases meant for Cyborg, meeting said mechanical teen in the med bay.

"sorry I'm late…. traffic was a migraine"

Victor/Cyborg acknowledged his dad by replying.

"not as big as a migraine I turned out to be…. having to save my ass every damn time…."

Silas Stone continued the conversation as followed.

"hey I'm your dad…. I'll do it whether you want me to or not, now lie still the upgrades I'm about to give you will take some time to install."

As the upgrade process began and went underway a second warp portal opened with Batman, Hawk and Wonder Girl stepping from the other side to be greeted by Dove.

"all of you made it in one piece?"

As the arrivals nodded a yes everyone went their separate ways with Batman wordlessly returning via a warp portal to the Bat cave with Wonder Girl going into the med bay herself, leaving Hawk and Dove alone.

"he's pissed at you."

Hawk just shrugged saying.

"what else is new?"

Both of them chuckled awkwardly as they went into the kitchen to get a light lunch, about 20 minutes in Cyborg came into the kitchen with his new upgraded body addressing Hawk.

"you…. follow me into the gym….. I need to test drive this baby before we're going after our friends…"

Hawk having no reason to refuse followed Cyborg as Dove continued eating he light lunch, trying in the meantime to contact Night-wing after a few moments Night-wing answered.

"this better be good….. it's the middle…..of the night…"

Dove sheepishly yet sarcastically answered.

"sorry…. I hope that you were at least sleeping….."

Night-wing scoffed a little before continuing the conversation and with being updated on what happened he updated Dove in return on what happened with the rest of the Teen Titans back on Tamaran, ending the conversation with.

"now as soon as Cyborg hears about all of this warp him on our coordinates… goodnight."

At this point Cyborg went for a little break from his workout session winding up in the kitchen.

"so what birdbrain had to say?…."

Dove answered the following.

"well he had an interesting day on Starfire's home planet…. he also wanted you to meet him in a few hours on the following coordinates….."

Cyborg now being fully updated. just gave a smirk replying the following before heading back for his room for a little R&R.

" I bet he had…"

Speaking of rest back in the Tamaranian royal palace, more specifically princess Koryand'r's and Richard's room both Richard and Koryand'r layed still in their bed unable to fall a sleep, both asking at the same time.

"restless?"

Richard chuckled a bit before facing Koryand'r/Starfire.

"a bit…. may I ask what are you restless about?

Koryand'r/Starfire chuckled nervously before answering.

"tomorrow's competition….. I'm afraid our efforts won't measure up to that of my people…. they are well trained in the art of combat and sports…"

At this point Richard kissed her lips slowly replying.

"so are we…."

At this point Koryand'r relaxed a bit smiling into his kiss and in the meantime asked.

"what…. worries… you….. my…. love?"

Richard/Night-wing grinned.

"oh you know the usual….. how can we progress our relationship forward without forcing ourselves into a situation we don't want…. or without compromising our beliefs… you know the usual….."

At that Koryand'r gave him a wry smile asking him silently to clarify in which he gave his own wry smile answering 'let me show you…'

With Starfire and Night-wing starting a passionate love and sex session Beast boy on the other side of the residential quarters was currently laying in his room unable to sleep, deep in thought. He layed there for a solid few minutes until he heard a soft knock on his door, a knock he recognized.

"wait just there Raven… I'm not exactly decent."

Raven was about to retort but before she could speak Beast boy opened the door wearing his pants at least.

"let me guess….. you were gonna say something like 'nothing surprises with you anymore'…."

At that Raven blushed a little, giving him a faint yet genuine smile until Beast boy snapped out a bit saying.

"what was I thinking…. please come in."

At that Raven cracked a smile saying silently 'what a gentleman' before stepping inside, surprised to see that the room was actually tidy she chose to remain quiet and sat on Beast boy's bed with him following in tow, sitting next to her and checking if she had a fever.

"why are you doing that?"

Beast boy replied earnestly.

"last time we had a moment to ourselves we were stuck in a freezer…. so I'm just checking if you got hypothermia."

Raven couldn't help but smile as she continued the conversation.

" I'm fine…. I used my father's powers to survive there…."

Beast boy a bit puzzled asked Raven to elaborate what she meant so she chose to answer with this.

"my father… Trigon…. the tyrant I recruited the Teen Titans to defeat…"

At that Beast boy chuckled a bit as he got closer to Raven hugging her as he kept the conversation.

"thank you for letting me know….. is this the reason you've been more hostile than usual in the last few months…?"

Raven, taken aback a bit by how Beast boy was taking it in so easily, replied with.

"how did you guess?"

Beast boy answered the following.

"parents have a strange way of influencing their kids…. that much I know….."

With that Raven gave him a small nod before Beast boy offered her to fall a sleep with him to which she agreed to surprisingly. Withing a few minutes both of them layed in bed together, Raven slept to his right side with her face towards the window with Beast boy laying still on his back with his eyes still open deep in thought.

"Raven….. are you awake?"

With that Raven gave him a slight gentle kick ordering him to go back to sleep to which Beast boy took a breath and asked.

"will you marry me?"

At this moment Raven was caught off guard by what she heard to which her only response was.

" wait until you hit puberty to ask that."

Undeterred Beast boy insisted that he was serious to which Raven gave him a more serious response.

" honestly….. it's moving….. but don't rush into things… and please call me Rachel from now on….."

Amused a bit Beast boy at this point felt relaxed enough to go to sleep and as he did so he responded quietly.

"so that's a definite maybe?"

As he asked that he closed his eyes with a grin plastered on his face however before he could wonder off into slumber he felt Raven's/Rachel's delicate hands and touch turn him over to her side as she started to plant small kisses on his forehead, cheeks and lips as she quietly remarked.

"what a sneak…"

If his grin wasn't big enough by this point, Rachel's small remark by this point would have caused Beast boy's grin to split his mouth in two so instead he just embraced her tightly whispering ever so quietly.

"off to bed with you…. we have one heck of a day ahead of us."

The rest of the night went by smoothly as the Teen Titans rested peacefully both on and off world as early morning came by with Starfire and Night-wing got an early start.

"Star be a dear and wake up Raven and Beast boy….. I got a welcoming comity for an old friend to organize….."

Starfire/Koryand'r quickly caught on by what he meant as she happily/worriedly exclaimed.

"Cyborg's alive and well?!… such wonderful news…."

With that she quickly and exuberantly left the room to which Night-wing could return the same infectious energy before thinking to himself.

'well that was yet another Starfire moment let's hope this moment will last an entire day.'

With that in mind Richard/Night-wing went off to prepare for Cyborg's arrival as Starfire/Koryand'r in turn went to wake up Raven and Beast boy, when she got to her first stop she knocked lightly at the door, however when no one answered she began to worry a little before catching on with what could've happened so she continued to her final stop,Beast boy's quarters. The minute she got to Beast boy's quarters she lightly knocked on the door Beast boy opened his eyes groggily as he made sure not to wake up Raven as he went to open the door muttering quietly.

"hold your….. horses…."

Answering the door he was greeted with Koryand'r/Starfire's sunny disposition.

"morning Beast boy, is Raven with you by any chance?"

Beast boy a little worried asked Starfire to keep her tone down before answering.

"yeah as a matter of fact…. she's still sleeping"

Smiling sheepishly Starfire/Koryand'r simply replied that she understood as she told him to pass on to Raven to meet them in the courtyard in about an Tamaranian hour, to which she explained that in earth's time it would be roughly three hours, as she left Koryand'r remembered something.

"Beast boy…..congratulations on you and friend Raven finally becoming lovers…. may your love be blessed with longevity…"

Beast boy was about to protest about Starfire's assumptions before she quickly disappeared from view leaving him to think with a blank face.

'who knows maybe we'll laugh it off in a few years…. then again… we're fucked'

With that he got back to his room to wake up Raven/Rachel gently.

In the meantime outside the castle Richard/Night-wing awaited with the rest of the royal families in anticipation for the possible new participant in the festivities as Richard himself put it so delicately as with in a few seconds a warp portal opened up to reveal Cyborg stepping out with his upgraded looks.

"Cyborg…. it's good to see you buddy…. welcome to Tamaran….. I trust you got my message on what's happening."

Cyborg in a good and teasing mood just replied the following.

"Dick… long time no see man…. what's with the formalities… trying to impress the in-laws or something?!…."

Night-wing in a good mood of his own had this to say.

"well that's the thing… depends how the competition today goes… that very well maybe the case."

Nodding and chuckling a little Cyborg/Victor Stone introduced himself to the rest of the welcoming committee, making quick friends out of all of them as Starfire/Koryand'r came in tow with Beast boy and Raven bringing up the rear, finally allowing king Myand'r to exclaim the following.

"now that all the participants have assembled it gives me great pleasure my dear family and friends…. let the Tamaran challenges begin….."

With that everyone followed king Myand'r as Night-wing started a small conversation with Cyborg.

"tell me you got your A game today?"

Cyborg answered the following.

"from what I've seen the last few days…. you can bet your ass I did."

With that Night-wing sighed in relief.

**up next: The Three** parter** Finale.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 08: **the hunt ( finale part 01)

Deep within the lush jungles of Tamaran the Teen Titans being led by Starfire and Night-wing, The Omega men being led by Ryand'r and the royal Tamaranian guard led by prince Karras were currently spread out in different locations, each group competing against the other in a larger scale hunt session similar to what Night-wing has already experienced the day before, only now a scoring system was involved determined by how many creatures have been captured and released, among the groups, Beast boy still had some reservations.

"are you sure that this so called 'hunt' is harmless to the local animals?"

Night-wing answered Beast boy at this point.

"honestly I'm not sure…. they may experience some discomfort…. besides none of us will pressure you into firing a net towards them…. that's why we chose you as a tracker."

Beast boy took comfort at the fact that nobody tried to force him into using a weapon on an unarmed animal, even alien ones, however he did have one unanswered question.

"how would we tell apart between the animals who take part in this contest and some other random animal caught in a cross fire?"

Starfire sympathetic to his plight has chosen to answer the following.

"my dear beast boy, on my home world there two things you must keep in mind, firstly our echo system are more resilient than earth and secondly most animals here can communicate with telepathy."

With that Beast boy resumed tracking 'prey' for the contest while unbeknownst to the rest of the group someone else tracked their movements as well.

Reaching for a communicator the unknown figure reported back.

'lady Komand'r as it is as you suspected….. your younger siblings are currently preoccupied with the hunting rite of passage…. though it seems your sister brought meddlesome outsiders into the fray….'

On the other end Komand'r, in an undisclosed location on Tamaran, grew furious and annoyed by what her scout has reported so she gave him the following order.

'keep tracking their progress… when they would let their guard down, you'll have my permission to hunt down most of them with the exceptions of my sister and youngest brother.'

With that Komand'r ended the transmission asa low ranking grunt asked permission to talk.

'my lady forgive my ignorance but aren't we rebelling to uphold our most sacred traditions?….. striking our opponents without them knowing seems a bit…"

Before he could finish Komand'r interrupted him before killing him.

' actually it is exactly like you suggest'

With that she struck him down with her star bolts towards his head leaving it to slowly melt as he layed dying, asking the guards around her.

'does anyone else want to challenge my authority?'

The guards in turn kept quiet as Komand'r got up from her throne, heading outside to address the followers she gathered in her plan to stage a coup.

'the citadel war is over, but our world is engulfed in a civil war!, city fights city…. brother battles brother… how many of your loved ones will die?'

Stopping for a moment to let her words sink in she continued as followed.

' and you ask why!….. the only answer my friends is king Myand'r is a coward!… to save Tamaran he gave our princess to the citadel to become a slave!'

Komand'r continued on with her speech playing on the crowd's sense of inferiority and wounded pride until she got the crowd to chant her name in support, that is until the planet's police force arrived, racing through the Tamaranian skies, at the scene to disperse the gathering.

'attention!, you people disobey the law by listening to this traitor, return to your homes now.'

Seizing her moment Komand'r levitated to the air getting ready to strike the soldiers down as she exclaimed.

'Myand'r's armies! They seek me out… they try to stop me from telling the truth…'

At this point in time Komand'r launches her star bolts against Myand'r's troops incinerating them out of the sky as she concluded her speech with these final words.

'but I am not weak like Myand'r….. Tamaranians were born warriors! We will fight for our freedom not cower like weaklings…. now do you still follow the weak Myand'r? or do you follow the one who will return pride to our world?, who do you choose? Tell me now!'

Roaring cheers filled the streets below her as the crowd chanted Komand'r's name until it became deafening, fueling Komand'r's own ego as she levitated triumphantly as she encouraged the chants to continue, within a few moments Komand'r descended to ground level addressing her newest second in command.

'make sure to arm the rabble…. once every woman man and child are armed we advance on my father's capitol…. today king Myand'r will finally meet his better on the battle front.'

At this point the soldier did what he was told as Komand'r went back inside to her chambers, once inside she quickly established contact with her trackers to get an update on her enemies whereabouts and progress.

Keeping a close eye on the proceedings Komand'r passed her time until the competition advanced to their later stages bearing witness to a surprising event, all groups assembled in the competition were tying in with one another, having no clear winner or loser.

Back at the competition the Teen Titans were still going strong with Night-wing in between 'hunts' kept appraised by Starfire.

" say Star how often do this competitions end in a three way draw?"

Starfire/Koryand'r feeling proud of herself answered while having the time of her life.

"it's unprecedented my dear Richard…"

Liking the tone of that Night-wing/Richard gave a full grin as he kept the pace up with the rest of the Teen Titans stayed on his and Starfire's trail feeling highly motivated themselves. At the end of the day all groups reconvened in front of the royal courtyard tied yet again with the exact number of points, swallowing his sense of pride prince Karras came to congratulate the Teen Titans.

" you gave us a decent competition…. as far as outsiders can muster…."

Beast boy was about to but in before Raven/Rachel playfully stomped his foot with her feet causing him to whisper in pain.

"ouch….. what was that for?…. how did you know what I was gonna say?"

Raven/Rachel dryly answered his question.

"one it's you…. two, yes I can actually read minds…."

Before the banter could continue, a Tamaranian soldier came rushing by towards captain Karras.

'my liege….. I've come barring disturbing news…. Komand'r leads a garrison of civilians towards the kingdom armed with weapons… including females and children…'

Starfire noticing prince Karras horrified demeanor went over quickly to get an update on the situation that was unfolding to which she caught Karras last response.

'quick tell my father and king Myand'r everything you told me… we're going to war….'

Alert Koryand'r/Starfire made her presence known.

'is Komand'r attacking us already?'

Karras at that answered so that the rest of the Teen Titans would understand.

"not only that but she's sending armed women and children on the front line."

Disgusted but what they heard the Teen Titans quickly volunteered to defend the castle with Beast boy, surprisingly, taking the charge.

"Star, Night…. if I may take the lead, you two with Cyborg provide cover fire while me and Raven will head outside…. trying to buy you some time while scaring the civilians into surrendering."

Night-wing and Starfire alike nodded with agreement as they both saw that Beast boy's play was solid with Night-wing himself acquired about where's the nearest armory, leaving Beast boy to transform into a pterodactyl, taking flight with Raven in tow just behind. As both of them flew through the air Raven felt Beast boy's anxiety levels rising up, boiling to the surface but before she could wonder what's bothering him both of them were shot down by the trackers Komand'r/Blackfire sent from a nearby hiding place.

'kill the female first…. the little green whelp is of no real danger to any of us'

With that a few soldiers who escorted the trackers went to carry out their orders as the ones responsible for shooting Beast boy and Raven down tagged along to finish the job. Beast boy having witnessed Raven/Rachel fall out of the sky was getting infuriated and worried for her safety not caring that a few seconds later he landed with a thud and a crash on the surface down below, noticing that Tamaranian soldiers were after him he quickly tried to get up and defend himself only to notice that his left arm was broken and bleeding, quickly he scoured around the area for cover or at least materials to fashion an improvised arm sling but before he could act out on those thoughts a group of Tamaranian soldiers and rebels surrounded him.

"is there a doctor in the house?…. oh right you probably don't understand me"

Beast boy at this point was about to get executed when a shadow, or rather Raven's soul self surrounded him, engulfing him making him disappear leaving the attacking group confused before they've spread out in the hopes of finding their captive. In the meantime Beast boy landed on yet another hard ground, only this time he landed near Raven in what he now recognized as Rachel's domain, the one called Nevermore.

"shh don't talk just listen…. I'm okay…. relatively, the Titans already know what happened and you need to heal properly."

With that said and done Raven started to heal Beast boy with him noticing that her healing magic got a lot more stronger in here, outside her mind to heal a wound like that will take about 30 minutes….. in nevermore it only took about 3 to 5 minutes. Feeling his arm functional again he rotated it a bit to check everything was in place working properly before turning to Raven/Rachel kissing her passionately on her lips.

"we need to come up with a plan this time… we need a surprise attack got any ideas?"

Raven/Rachel caught up by surprise for an instant, blushed slightly as she finally responded.

" I think I do… say can you turn into a mythical creature by any chance?"

Beast boy flashed a grin at her.

"what you had in mind?"

Raven quickly laid out her plan as she conjured a portal for her and beast boy to walk through ending up in a what appeared to be a small library/archive with Beast boy mentioning the following.

"you do realize this is not a good time to read books right?"

Raven/Rachel tried not to roll her eyes at this comment as she manifested a sizeable catalog filled with descriptions and illustrations of known and forgotten mythical animals stating the following.

" I don't expect you to read it all, just memorize some of it enough so you could transform into them…. besides we could read about them together on our down time."

Beast boy at that moment made a goofy expression silently saying ' right….. how could I forget' as he quickly and attentively skimmed through the catalog comiting to memory several pictures and descriptions before the book vanished and they as well as Raven summoned her soul self yet again. Winding up back in the Tamaranian forests again she turned to Beast boy.

"remember the plan?"

He in turn just gave her a cocky grin replying with.

" do I remember the plan?, of course I do…."

The last part of the sentence he muttered to himself.

" I just hope it actually works…."

With that Beast boy ran towards the clearings hoping to find some of the enemies that tried shooting him and Raven down. It didn't take long for him to be spotted and even less time to get himself chased after as Raven kept on both of their trails as Beast boy eventually came to a dead end.

'here goes nothing'

Taking a deep breath Beast boy transformed himself into a chimera first scaring most of the rebel Tamaranians until the only ones left were the soldiers under Komand'r's command and the trackers there to make sure their hunt was a success, showing no fear the Tamaranians attacked leaving Beast boy trying to defend himself searching for a better position, mid battle he transformed yet again into a Yale, trying to keep the attackers at bay with his razor sharp horns.

'that's it just a bit more…'

With that Beast boy continued to egg on his attackers changing forms yet again, this time into a gryphon , taking into the air only to pounce on his attackers as from the shadows raven fed of the hostility o the Tamaranians to fuel her own powers.

'that's it…..'

With that Raven made herself noticed as she stepped out of her hiding place, engulfing the Tamaranian attackers with her amplified dark powers leaving the alive but unconscious in a matter of mere minutes.

"thank god you arrived…. I didn't know how much longer I could hold out"

Seeing him almost to the point of exhaustion Raven simply replied the following.

"the battle isn't done yet…. stay close to me and rest for a bit."

With that she quickly engulfed him with her soul self as both transported to their next battle ground as Night-wing stayed behind to guard the palace with Cyborg as Starfire and captain Karras tried to hold of the invading forces around the palace walls.

"please tell me you got a plan man….. I'm running out of juice over here…"

Night-wing at that point had an idea pop into his head.

"let them in…. make sure to lead them into a narrow enough space and seal off both entrances"

Cyborg after hearing that gave a nod along with a reply.

"if I didn't know you any better I'd say you were dropped as baby."

With that Cyborg led a group of soldiers and a few rebels to a small enough room as he and in turn Night-wing began blasting at the entrance trapping the enemies inside as Cyborg asked a bit worried.

" what's to stop them from blasting their way out of the room?"

Night-wing answered dryly.

"maybe nothing….. honestly we need to find Blackfire and defeat her once and for all."

Cyborg agreed with that statement gesturing him silently 'after you' as both went to the castle's entrance to see if Karras and his men needed help. At the moment they've arrived they bore witness to prince/captain Karras fight along side his second in command Taryia take on a group of Tamaranian soldiers bear handed, disarming them efficiently before knocking them down with a few select punches and kicks.

"damn those people can whoop some ass…."

Night-wing's only response was.

"that's saying it mildly."

With that said Night-wing noticed that a group of rebels were on their way to try and surrender the two warriors so both he and Cyborg ran an intervention with Night-wing producing his escrima sticks at the ready.

" we got it from here… protect king Myand'r."

Captain Karras's only response after hearing that was.

" I thank you for your concern…. however king Myand'r is an accomplished warrior in his own right and I will never retreat from a fight."

Night-wing only gave a slight smirk silently saying ' don't blame me for trying' with that Night-wing continued to knock down soldiers with his escrima sticks while immobilizing rebels left and right with Cyborg taking care of the res with his newly upgraded white noise cannon, however before anyone could catch their breaths Taryia spotted another group of rebels headed towards them, Cyborg at that motioned towards her to use his as catapult with her as the projectile, agreeing to that Taryia got launched into the crowd knocking some of them down while fist fighting the ones who still stood their ground.

" I need to learn that move…."

After saying that at exactly the same time both captain Karras kept on fighting until Night-wing noticed a small figure flying high above ground with a green gryphon in tow.

"Star….. come in Star….. reinforcement is arriving your way."

Starfire/Koryand'r has responded accordingly through the communicator.

"thank you my love but I'm in pursuit of Blackfire…. I have to end this once and for all…"

Night-wing whispered softly 'be careful' before contacting Raven and Beast boy.

" just saw you fly by what's your position?"

Raven responded with.

" a few minutes away from king Myand'r"

Night-wing ended the transmission before making his way towards the rest of the Titans present. As soon as the Teen Titans arrived to help king Myand'r thwart of the invasion Starfire/Koryand'r took off to the skies in an attempt to locate Komand'r/Blackfire with the intent to put an end to this war once and for all. Komand'r at this point was hanging back a bit letting the rebels and her loyal subjects do her dirty work waiting for the opportune moment to strike, however, once she spotted her younger sister charging right at her she quickly took to the sky with Starfire giving chase.

"are you content sister!?….. trying to destroy the kingdom father has toiled to build?"

Komand'r answered with an even tone yet anger still present in it.

"don't be naive little one….. our father hasn't toiled to make anything out of his kingdom or our planet….."

As the two sisters raced after each other throughout the planet Komand'r continued on her tirade.

" he inherited his kingdom and rule from much deserving kings and queens who came before him only to destroy it himself far better than I ever could or will."

As the chase continued they both got near a vast secluded beach with that Starfire launched star bolts at Blackfire in an attempt to slow her down making her land on solid ground so she could face her one on one in hand to hand combat to which surprisingly Blackfire not only dodged but complied with Starfire by taking the fight to land.

"how foolish of you sister, do you really expect to defeat me in combat?….. I taught you everything you know and everything you'll ever know…"

With that Starfire landed on the beach keeping quiet as she took a stance similar to Night-wing's fighting style, egging on Blackfire to attack, which she took enthusiastically thinking to herself.

'it is about time someone to put you in your place little one'

As the fight between the two sisters began both of them were evenly matched, being able to trade blow for blow whether it were punches or kicks the two tried to best each other to no avail which at this point Komand'r tried a different tactic.

"why are you fighting me?….. why are you loyal to that pathetic weakling of a father….. you know he won't reward your loyalty…."

Starfire responded to her as follows.

" father had tough choices to make, choices even I couldn't agree with…. however those choices led to the events where I met my friends…. my family…. and my loved one… where have your choices led you older sister?"

At that Komand'r got visibly angry and upset as she desperately tried to land a solid hit on her sister.

"choices!?….. I had no choices….. I was robbed of my choices by the very own weakling you try to defend…..

In an angry state Komand'r landed a few solid hits on her sister right near the legs and stomach, making sure that Koryand'r would be unable to fly regardless of how their skirmish ends up with Starfire herself seemingly getting a few weak hits of her own until Komand'r lost her footing, being unable to make use of her muscles.

"you damn brat what have you done….."

As Starfire/Koryand'r knelt down to lift her sister on her back she replied the following.

"oh nothing much…. just borrowed a few moves from my beloved… now silence we have a long journey ahead of us…."

With that Starfire started to walk back the way she came with Komand'r boiling in her own anger and sense of failure as she was carried by her younger sister back to the capital to face punishment for her crimes against the throne of Tamaran.

"mark my words Koryand'r as soon as my strength returns I'll slaughter you and anyone you'd ever cared about."

Koryand'r/Starfire at this point only replied with.

"my dear sister you've made such threats before multiple times to the point of them being mute"

With that in mind Starfire made her way through the wilderness of Tamaran with her captive on foot until they came across a couple of welcoming wild life who in turn offered to assist her with the journey home, in the meantime she tried to contact Night-wing.

"go for Night-wing reading you loud and clear."

Relieved she smiled at him as she gave him the good news.

" I've managed to capture Blackfire…. I'll be home in a matter of a few hours."

Night-wing slightly relieved by the news still had to ask.

"are you okay?…. you're not hurt are you?"

Giving him a loving smile and gaze Starfire/Koryand'r reassured him.

" I'm fine and well… just a bit exhausted."

Night-wing nodded in acknowledgement before he said goodbye ending the transmission with Starfire as of now asking the wildlife accompanying her if they could pick up, to her joy the creatures agreed to her request, doubling the pace towards the Tamaranian palace. In the mean time back at the palace Night-wing rushed towards king Myand'r and Tharras to update them with the new developments all the while avoiding being jumped by Tamaranian rebels.

"good news my lords…. princess Koryand'r has defeated Black….. Komand'r in battle… she's expected to return within a few short hours"

Both kings after hearing such wonderful news leapt again into the battle field with a renewed sense of strength as they charged at what remained of the rebel forces trying to destroy the palace. As a couple of hours went by Koryand'r/Starfire finally manage to return back with Komand'r back to the capital, passing by through the kingdom she quickly noticed that a few of the rebels who stormed the royal palace were being escorted by Karras's men to holding cells while a few of Komand'r's soldiers and followers were being carted of to be given proper medical treatment or proper funerals propping Komand'r to mutter.

'weaklings….. I should've fought this war all by myself…..'

Koryand'r/Starfire tried hard to keep her rage in check as she condemned her sister's behavior.

'those weaklings were your people…. they have fought for your cause… show the proper respect they deserve…'

At that Komand'r only gave a slight smirk and a grin as Koryand'r/Starfire continued her way towards the palace until she was met at the front gates by her parents and friends.

"glorious….. well done my child…. my little bundle of pride!"

Feeling a mixture of a little embarrassment and joy Koryand'r/Starfire settled in give her father a big crushing hug.

"father I am relieved that we all survived the battle…. but we still need to make sure the treacherous Komand'r will not threaten us yet again."

King Myand'r only response was a firm nod as he ordered captain Karras and a few of the royal guards to secure Komand'r until he will join them as he left Koryand'r giving the Teen Titans some much needed time among themselves, with Night-wing now rushing her.

"never pegged you for daddy's little girl….."

Starfire caught his teasing tone and with a small teasing tone of her own replied back.

"no more than you are with Bruce….."

Night-wing feeling slightly embarrassed and self conscious quickly added when the rest of the Teen Titans, mainly Cyborg and Beast boy, before they could tease him.

"Star you, me and Beast boy should go to the holding cells to make sure Blackfire can't escape, Raven, check on Karras's forces…. make sure no one is severely injured royalty included and Cyborg…"

Cyborg cut him off saying.

"no need to say it further…. secretary duties…."

Beast boy having fun time imagining cyborg making phone calls and taking messages added the following with mirth.

"hey Cy can we get coffee and donuts before we head off!?"

Cyborg gave a dry laugh before ruffling Beast boy's hair, the latter now tried in a comedic fashion to stop the former from ripping some hairs out.

"you better get those for yourself before I whoop your ass into next week"

With that Cyborg left to make the necessary phone calls as Raven/Rachel helped straighten out Beast boy's hair a little before playfully smacking him on the back of his head but before he could make a playful remark Night-wing and Starfire has already left ahead of him so he opted to catch up to them. On the way to the holding cells Night-wing, Beast boy and Starfire volunteered to help restore the damages that the battle made on the capital each in their own way and after about an hour or two the made it to the holding facility, prompting Beast boy to ask.

" okay how does this work?… do we knock or what?"

Starfire/Koryand'r at this point told them to wait a little as she flew towards what appeared to be a watchtower, a few seconds later Beast boy and Night-wing entered inside the holding facility.

"friends… please be on your best behavior…. the guards are not enthiusiastic about letting visitors in…"

Night-wing and Beast boy after hearing this asked simultaneously.

"any other rules to keep in mind?"

Starfire stifled a laugh at what occurred as they entered the holding cells.

"just one….. don't let your guard down"

At this point Beast boy tried to respond but as soon as they entered Blackfire's holding cell he blanked out at what he saw,Blackfire standing in the middle of the room completely nude as the Tamaranian guards carried her clothes and armor away, night-wing catching on to Beast boy's reaction just opted to cover his eyes with his right hand.

" before you say anything I'm doing you a favor…. besides you don't want to get the missus jealous are you?"

Beast boy comically unresponsive just replied as follows.

" maybe ironically she's in to that…. then again…."

Night-wing just gave him a stare that silently said 'right' before turning to Starfire whispering.

"tell the guards to do a cavity check too…. I don't trust her one bit"

Blackfire/Komand'r at this point just chuckled as she replied.

"there's no use with secrecy…. I'm well adapt at reading lip movement."

A bit surprised Night-wing and Starfire replied accordingly as Starfire turned to the Tamaranian guard outside.

'make sure to keep an eye on her… and do not heed her demands….'

At that the guard saluted princess Koryand'r as she left with the Titans present.

A few hours passed by since princess Koryand'r and her little friends payed Komand'r a visit to which she was kept in isolation being watched in shifts accompanied by intervals. Being kept restraint by her arms and legs Komand'r bide her time trying to figure out how to escape when a surprise visit from king Myand'r and queen Luand'r.

'to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?'

The king and queen in turn did not respond opting to keep silent as they set their disappointment filled gaze on the disgraced elder daughter to which Komand'r simply replied with a huff.

'if you have nothing to offer but the same tired speeches and pleas you've offered in the past then I suggest you leave'

Queen Luand'r took an offense to her tone stating in an enraged tone.

'prideful fool of a daughter… have you no remorse for your actions?'

Komand'r at this point spat right back.

'remorse!?….. you dare speak to me about remorse?….. where was it when you disowned me for being born weak and frail in comparison to little Koryand'r?….. I have none of it when you chose to teach me that unfair punishment came for me for simply existing!'

At this point in the conversation king Myand'r intervened in the conversation.

'enough of this… we came in the hopes that a prison sentence will reform you, however it seems that will simply not do…. the day after tomorrow you will be judged by the people….. may X'hal be with you.'

Komand'r started laughing in their face showing the contempt for her family, her planet and her religion to which the royal couple could only react by leaving the place brokenhearted. Meanwhile back in the royal palace Koryand'r/Starfire has decided to try and comfort herself with a relaxing bath after a hard days of work trying to restore as much of the capital as she could, whether by cheering up her people with her presence or landing a hand with rebuilding the damaged parts of the city.

"may I offer my services your highness?"

Smiling at who came to visit Koryand'r/Starfire simply replied the following.

"you may my dear Richard"

Smirking on his part Richard came in wearing nothing but a towel as he joined her in the bath, sitting right behind her as he started massaging her shoulders.

"you seem tense…. care to tell me what worries you?"

Starfire/Koryand'r replied with a small sigh escaping her lips.

" a lot of things…. mainly my elder sister….. our fight ended too easily… and that does not bode well…"

Richard understanding where that line of thinking came from has decided to add small kisses to his massage as he replied.

"whatever she's planning next… we'll be there to stop her…."

At this point the massage turned into a make out session until a loud knock came from the front bedroom door prompting Richard to mutter as he went back to get dressed and answer the door.

"never a quiet moment when you want it…."

Answering the door Richard/Night-wing was surprised with a visit from Taryia.

"may I have an audience with you and princess Koryand'r please?"

To that Richard/Night-wing nodded as he went back to call Starfire.

As Night-wing and Starfire came back they ushered Taryia in as they began to converse among the three of them.

"thank you for seeing me on such short notice…. you may remember that I'm captain Karras's lieutenant…"

Night-wing politely cut to the chase.

" I also know that you're romantically involved… so is this about him?"

Taryia bluntly stated the following.

"yes….. but not in the matter you suspect it."

Intrigued both Night-wing and Starfire beckoned her to continue.

" as of late I've heard talks, whispers and rumors that there might be a traitor among Karras's men or even the royal court…. I would like to entrust you with making sure that these talks are nothing but it."

With this bit of news Night-wing and Starfire accepted Taryia's request before she excused herself out thanking them once again.

"why doesn't it surprise me…. contact Raven and Beast boy we'll need their help on this one."

Starfire contacts at this point Raven while she asks.

"what about Cyborg? Why not include him too?"

At this point Night-wing answered the following.

"he's still helping with the restoration efforts… besides I think he fell in love with the place so I feel bad asking him to overwork himself on what is essentially the closest thing we get for a vacation…."

With that said later that evening a banquette was held to honor the earthlings who helped thwart Komand'r's/Blackfire's coup and while the mood was festive and cheerful Night-wing along side with the other Titans watched intently on the proceedings trying to detect suspicious behavior.

" a toast for Koryand'r and the Titans…. may we all be fortunate with such good friend and allies…."

At that king Tharras joined with his own toast, however queen Salja interjected.

"pardon me my lords but isn't it premature to celebrate?, we haven't yet rendered judgement on the treacherous Komand'r…."

King Tharras gave a hearty laugh dismissing his wife's worries as caused by justified and yet unwarranted stress, boasting that his eldest son, his pride and joy will see to it that Komand'r will not see the light of day ever again. Raven per usual with her razor sharp instincts has narrowed down on the emotions queen Salja was experiencing mentally passing a note to Starfire, Beast boy and Night-wing.

' I found a likely suspect… her anger levels are rising.'

Beast boy answered mentally.

' are you sure it's not just because her husband embarrassed himself in front of everyone?'

Raven at this point had no answer cause Beast boy's question was logical so Beast boy opted to offer this instead.

' I'll keep tabs on her after the party while the rest of you will vet out the other party goers…. minus Star's family of course.'

Starfire responded next.

'as much as I'll hate myself afterwards please do not leave out my family off the suspect list….. I've made that mistake before when I took my older sister for granted many years ago.'

Though Starfire said it mentally Richard/Night-wing saw that deep down inside it hurt her to think like that about her own family so in return he squeezed he hand tightly silently saying.

'don't blame yourself…. they won't hold it against you.'

With that being said the rest of the evening went off without a problem or a care in the world with the Teen Titans retiring for the night, however once out of sight Night-wing kept a close eye on Star's parents while Raven and Beast boy went outside on patrol in case of someone trying to sneak by under the cover of darkness while Koryand'r/Starfire retired to her room so she could mentally prepare to face the would be traitor. While in her room Starfire took deep breaths when a soft knock came on her door, on the other side Ryand'r greeted her.

' am I disturbing you older one?'

Pleased to see him Koryand'r ushered him in while embracing him in a big hug.

'how many times have I asked of you not to be so formal with me?'

Ryand'r sheepishly replied.

' sorry force of habit… I've heard about the gossip that started to spread….'

With that Koryand'r hugged him even tighter saying.

' do not worry yourself…. Richard and the rest of us including yours truly are investigating the matter…..'

With that Ryand'r gave a sigh of relief, finally allowing himself to ease into his older sister's hug.

' it's great seeing you again…. I missed you so much…'

At this point Starfire's communicator blared up prompting her to answer it.

"sorry for the late call but me and Rae…I mean Raven are circling the night sky for well over an hour and we've got zilch on our end…. are you sire this info you got is legit?"

Raven called in for a small conference reporting exactly the same as Beast boy prompting Starfire to think.

"say Ryand'r?… is there any chance someone might travel underground?"

Ryand'r did not answer but simply gestured to follow him prompting Starfire to call the rest of the Teen Titans to converge on her location. As Ryand'r led his sister to a system of underground tunnels the Titans have made their way to her location with Cyborg in toe.

" I apologize if I ruined your vacation dear friend."

Cyborg brushed it off like it was no big deal.

"don't worry about it little lady…. I love the exercise"

With that in mind Ryand'r gave them directions to where the tunnels lead as he joined along as backup.

" I know it's a bit awkward but nice to meet you…. I'm Night-wing….."

Ryand'r replied the following.

"don't worry about it Koryand'r told me much about you….. I feel like I've known you my entire life…. and call me Wildfire while on mission okay?"

At that night-wing chuckled to himself thinking.

' Wildfire….?…. never a dull moment with this family.'

In the meantime two cloaked figures walked miles ahead of the towards the prison. As the two figures slowly reached their destinations they discarted the cloaks to reveal themselves as king Tharras and queen Salja which granted them safe and easy passage towards the holding facility and more importantly towards Komand'r's jail cell. While the guards surrounded her cell Komand'r noticed her new visitors.

'to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?'

The royal couple did not answer at first, however, a few seconds later queen Salja drew a small pistol from her robes killing every guard in the cell block before she destroyed Komand'r's cell door, freeing her in the process. Walking outside king Tharras spoke up.

'we've kept our end of the agreement….. you better keep yours.'

At this point Komand'r scoffed as she made sure to retrieve her clothes and armor from the guards station, returning fully clothed.

' I shall abide by my promise…. my lady…'

Confused by her choice of words king Tharras tried to sound his objections however before he could utter a word he felt three shots pierce his back filling his lungs with blood as he collapsed on the ground dying as queen Salja stepped over him with the pistol still in her hands.

'this planet deserves better leadership than yours or that foolish Myand'r….. for all of our sake…..'

Komand'r just smirked at what queen Salja uttered as she caught her by surprise, clenching her hand on her face she produced a star bolt that melted the queens fate right off making her agonize in screams for a few short moments before the queen went silent. Feeling her strength waning Komand'r activated the warp portal on the last set of coordinates before walking back to her hideout to recharge herself once more thinking to herself.

'better make this quick dear little sister will surely catch on quickly'

Surely enough Koryand'r/Starfire came a few minutes later explaining the sityation to the guards and warden though when she finally was allowed access to the holding cell the horror awaited her shocked her to the core.

"Titans… alert the guards and the palace Blackfire has broken free…"

With that Raven, Beast boy and Cyborg has gone back the way they came as Night-wing and Ryand'r/Wildfire stayed behind on instinct.

"Star are you okay?"

Starfire/Koryand'r nodded 'yes' with great sadness on her face.

" I'll be fine….. I'm just dreading on how prince Karras…. king Karras will react to the news of his parent's passing….."

Wildfire spoke next.

"it matters not…. he needs to know of this regardless

At this point two distant figures made their way towards the scene of the crime, a male figure and a female one or more specifically captain Karras and Taryia, the former being informed by the latter on the possible escape attempt.

"friends I know of most of what's transpired… what else do I need knowing…"

At this point he recognized the corpses laying on the prison's floor. Stricken with horror the color from his face has drained as he desperately tried to quell the rage he felt boiling within.

" if you need a few minutes to grieve we'll leave you alone….. we have a fugitive to go after."

Karras just stopped Richard here and there.

" I will grieve once I catch the fugitive myself….. Taryia stay close to me."

**To be continued on part 02**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 09: **Throne of Tamaran ( finale part 02)

At first all Karras could think about was finding Komand'r, finding her and exacting justice for the deaths and murder of his parents king Tharras and queen Salja however Night-wing. Knowing what damage those kind of emotions could do to a man, has managed to quell his temper stating that the first priority was to give the former rulers their proper burial. Back at the capital Tamarus the funeral rights according to Tamaranian traditions have proceeded without fail or interruptions with every attended giving their respects for the deceased, even some of the soldiers serving under Karras and Taryia giving a small eulogy and at this point it was Karras's turn.

' my fellow Tamaranians and loyal subjects….. I shall not lie, the events surrounding the deaths of king Karras and Salja are questionable at best…. some rumors and chatter may already have spread about however one fact cannot be denied…. the treacherous Komand'r has slain them in cold blood… so I beseech you not only as a warrior but as a grieving son…. help me capture her so she may face the punishment she rightfully deserves….'

At this point the crowd rallied with determination and loyalty to captain/king Karras as he said his final goodbyes to his parents before heading inside the palace to prepare for the chase about to ensue when he once again encountered Night-wing.

" I suppose you're here to try and show leniency towards Komand'r?"

At that Night-wing gave a dry laugh, almost sounding flippant.

" why would I?…. no I'm here however is to make sure you don't fall into the rabbit hole that is revenge."

Confused a little Karras admitted that earthly expressions eludes him so Night-wing spoke bluntly.

" I'm here to make sure you're not going out there intending on murdering her."

Karras at that did not give a reply he merely tried to pass by Night-wing before Night-wing blocked his path once more this time in a more proactive manner with an unreadable and fierce expression on his face.

" will you please step aside?"

Night-wing did not response or react and certainly he did not move.

"the next time I'll ask I will not do so politely."

At this point Night-wing did give a response.

"your grace I'll move once you give me your word that you will not murder princess Komand'r"

At this point Karras got frustrated so he bluntly asked.

"why is it any business of yours if I kill Komand'r or not…. she deserves a gruesome death for all I care"

Night-wing softened his expression as he confided in Karras.

"when I was a small child my parents were brutally murdered by a common criminal… for years I was obsessed with exacting revenge on the man who ruined my life….. it took a long while for me to see that revenge is an endeavour that kills its seeker as well… luckily I had people in my life that aided me when I needed it most….. and I can see you need the same aid as well."

Feeling utterly defeated Karras admitted the following.

" they do not leave my mind…. they keep haunting me….. I'm not blood thirsty I just want a little peace of mind…."

At this point Night-wing offered his hand to Karras silently saying 'you want peace of mind? Let me help you find it' at this point Karras caught on to the gesture, accepting Night-wing's offer for help.

" stay on my trail… there's no time to lose"

Doing just that Night-wing stayed close behind as he sent the following transmission.

"Star, Beast boy follow me and Karras, Raven and Cyborg stay behind….. make sure the royal family has protection detail…"

Eventually Karras led Night-wing, Starfire and Beast boy to a holding facility just a few miles away from the capital with Taryia informing them on why they were there.

"let me get it straight, you got one of Blackfire's little flock in there trying to fish for information but he's keeping his mouth shut?"

Everyone at that pretty much agreed that Beast boy got it on the first guess before he went over to Starfire whispering something in her ear, with that Starfire gave a nod before asking permission to talk with the prisoner, once granted she went inside for a few minutes. Once inside a small muffled conversation started and after a few minutes Starfire came back outside.

" I know where Komand'r's been hiding…. follow me."

As Karras and Taryia followed Starfire and the rest of the Teen Titans on Komand'r's trail, Karras and Taryia got curious on what the green earthling said to princess Koryand'r.

"what exactly did you advise Koryand'r to say?"

Beast boy looking a bit pleased with himself simply said.

" I could tell you…. but I won't, plausible deniability and all of that…"

Realizing what he said and referred to they dropped that line of questioning as Night-wing came lose behind lightly smacking him on the back of his head.

"keep your ego in check…."

Beast boy made a face at him in a comical fashion to which Night-wing only scoffed at, reminding him to keep up. Once reaching the destination Beast boy immediately turned into a hound dog trying to sniff for clues only to come up empty, turning back into human form he layed it on thick.

"sorry got no idea where she could be….. too many scents in here and none of them are beauty products….."

As Karras and Taryia got visibly disappointed with Night-wing showing small hints of disgust at the inference Beast boy made he turned to Starfire for a lead.

"any idea on where your sister could be hiding?"

Starfire nodded responding.

" I do but I doubt she will stand there for long…"

At this point Starfire and Night-wing got a call from Raven.

"guys we have a small complication… king Myand'r has gone after Blackfire himself…"

Night-wing at that replied back to Starfire, urgency in his tone.

"looks like we don't have a choice…. tell Karras where, we'll need to use the warp portal as in right now…"

In the meantime King Myand'r waited on the dueling arena where that fateful duel between him and his eldest daughter occurred, Komand'r has joined him after a few moments.

' let us end this war once and for all…. no more innocence have to be involved… you and me in a fight to the death.'

Komand'r/Blackfire mocked him.

'if only you acted like this years ago….. maybe I would've more respect for you…'

Both now were taking their stances at the arena with Komand'r/Blackfire charging at king Myand'r head on launching star bolts at him trying to make sure he doesn't get the opportunity to hit a single blow. To her surprise however he didn't try as so much as dodge but instead he charged at her as well, pulling a sword from his back as he tried to thrust at her, in a split second she managed to aim the star bolts at the hilt of the sword making king Myand'r grunt in pain as the sword flew from his hand.

'how long have you had the sword hidden?'

Myand'r didn't answer but rather with his now injured hand he kept pushing on launching punches towards Komand'r to which she on and off managed to block with a few managing to hit her in the gut and jaw line. In the meantime a warp portal opened up with the Teen Titans and company exit from the other side, at this point Starfire/Koryand'r wanted nothing more but to stop this fight yet she quickly realized that this fight was commencing to save the kingdom from suffering any more loses. Noticing the new arrivals Komand'r had a quick thought which made her grin from ear to ear, she went on the offensive yet again hurling a few star bolts from her hands and eyes causing a dust storm to disorient king Myand'r, however he wasn't that easily tricked or so he thought. The moment he emerged through the dust cloud he saw Komand'r launching a massive star bolt at the new arrivals so without even thinking he threw himself between Koryand'r and the star bolt receiving the majority of the attack to his back, bringing down to his knees while the rest of the attack missed as all the arrivals ducked for cover. As Myand'r laid there suffering from his wound Komand'r reached towards him turning him over on his back.

'whatever made you think that I was the same weakling you've bested long ago?'

With that said she knelt down and with a single fluent movement she ripped out Myand'r's right eye, spitting at his face to add insult to injury, at this point Starfire/Koryand'r rushed towards her fallen father as she took to the air before opening up a warp portal, disappearing through it.

" Richard… take Beast boy with you back to the palace….. Karras, Taryia…. call for the healers…. my father requires medical attention"

At this moment no one argued or even hesitated as Night-wing and Beast boy headed towards the palace as Starfire, Karras and Taryia stayed behind with the fallen king Myand'r. as Night-wing and Beast boy returned back to the palace they were expecting a fight to ensue yet everything felt eerily quiet as Raven, Cyborg and queen Luand'r came to greet them back, seeing their faces however Raven couldn't help but ask.

" I take it something went wrong?"

Night-wing answered hoarsely.

"horribly wrong…. king Myand'r's horribly injured… and Blackfire has disappeared to God Knows where…"

If the horror of hearing her beloved got struck down by her own daughter shook her to the core queen Luand'r did not show it, she wore a mask of courage and conviction as she approached the rest of the group.

" everyone take a deep breath….. if any of you have any knowledge or skill with medicine now is the time to implement them…. those who are more proficient with combat follow me… I may have insight on where my daughter could be hiding."

Taking it as their cue Raven and Cyborg quickly got an update on where Starfire was last seen as Night-wing and Beast boy quickly followed queen Luand'r towards the armory with Beast boy asking.

"not to be rude but why are we heading to the armory?…. aren't we supposed to be chasing your psychotic daughter?…. no offense"

Queen Luand'r just answered as followed.

" none taken, I am taking you to the armory to prepare you for the inevitable hunt… by now you've seen what Komand'r is capable of… it would break my heart if my eldest daughter would've killed my little Kory's friends as it is without a doubt would break her spirit….."

Night-wing at that acknowledged that both him and Beast boy have no intention of making that fear into a reality while in the meantime a warp portal opened from inside the armory with Komand'r/Blackfire stepping out from the other side killing the guards withing the room, now lurking in the shadows for the opportune moment to strike. Once Beast boy, Night-wing and queen Luand'r stepped close to the armory Beast boy made a motion for them to stop.

"hold on something is seriously feels wrong."

Before they could question him further he turned himself into a blood hound, sniffing the air for a bit before he returned to human form reeling from disgust.

"corpses… why it had to be corpses…. fresh too…"

Acknowledging the info provided all of them readied themselves for a fight before an enormous explosion shook the room bringing a bit of the palace with it.

"looks like Komand'r's personal touch…. she always showed little regard for restraint."

Night-wing getting his barrings back together sweeping the area for any survivors he could save before rushing to Queen Luand'r's and Beast boy's side.

"are you both alright?"

Luand'r gave an affirmative nod while Beast boy replied.

"got any aspirins?"

Night-wing at this point addressed Queen Luand'r.

"can you see that Beast boy is taken properly care of?… I need to find Komand'r and put a stop to it once and for all."

With that Queen Luand'r told him where he might find Komand'r before a wobbling Beast boy tried to stop him.

"whoa whoa whoa…. you're not crazy enough to take on Blackfire on your own are ya?"

Night-wing replied with a serious face.

"of course not, but there must be something I can do….. she's been 10 steps a head of us the entire time…"

Beast boy kept on pushing.

"oh yeah so what you expect me to do?... let you wonder off on a strange planet on a suicide run?"

Before Night-wing could reply Beast boy socked him in the jaw with a powerful right hook before picking him up and following queen Luand'r to the infirmary, queen Luand'r gave him a puzzled look before he replied.

"he'll understand… I hope…"

A few minutes later queen Luand'r arrived to the infirmary with king Myand'r resting drifting in and out of consciousness with Raven making sure to heal what Tamaranian medicine could not with Starfire and Cyborg keeping guard with Karras and Taryia, that is until the youngest Tamaranian spotted them.

"mother….. is everyone okay?"

Queen Luand'r calmed her daughter down replying.

"Komand'r tried to stage a sneak attack, she has failed thanks to your friend Beast boy."

Beast boy having no strength to be a glory hound just replied the following.

" all in a day's work…. bruises and all"

At that Karras of all escorted the injured towards freed rest posts before asking.

"do you know where Komand'r's headed?"

Beast boy feeling suspicious for Karras's attitude just answered the following.

"you'd have to ask Night-wing… and he's out cold at the moment… goodnight."

With that comic last statement Beast boy layed in bed taking a much deserved rest when the rest of the Titans minus Raven walked out, getting closer to Beast boy she whispered.

"you punched him didn't you?"

Beast boy still trying to rest answered as followed.

" I had to….. he was gonna do something stupid."

Night-wing groaning from the other bed replied dryly.

"thanks for the vote of confidence….. do I really look suicidal to you?"

Beast boy at that felt remorseful saying.

"sorry….. I get really desperate and anxious when facing a situation of losing friends or family….. how are you feeling by the way?"

Night-wing at this point began to laugh and grin a little.

" other than the fact that I've been hit by National Geographic?…. fine, what about you?"

Beast boy just gave a gesture saying 'same old same old' before Raven interjected.

"not to spoil the party but what are you going to tell Karras and Starfire?…. they want to know where Blackfire is…."

At that Night-wing began thinking a little as he replied.

"tell them both the truth…. and trust that they can reign in their rage."

With that Raven went outside to call Starfire and Karras back in, a few minutes later the both of them came face to face with Night-wing who debriefed them, before ending the debrief he posed a question for the both of them but to Karras mostly.

" if we team up against Komand'r you will probably won't get to enact revenge for your parents… are you going to be okay with her being still alive?"

Karras thought long and hard on the question posed for him before he settled on an answer.

" as I said before I'm not blood thirsty, I just want peace of mind… however I can't deny that the thought of her death delights me."

Night-wing got curious about that answer so he pushed forward a bit.

"oh yeah?…. what stops you from killing her then?"

Karras replied the following with confidence.

" if I kill her she will get what she wants…. a barbaric Tamaran feeding off it's own bloodlust and that as a king and a person I cannot allow….."

Meanwhile at this very moment Komand'r/Blackfire is roaming through the jungles of Tamaran with the sole purpose of trying to recruit every animal on this planet via telepathic link, finding a high enough spot she addressed the gathering before her.

'my friends I cannot in good faith lie to you, what I am about to ask you cannot ensure safe return…. most of you will probably parish on the battle field….'

A creature similar in build to a jaguar with prehistoric features interrupted her

'then why should we listen?… why should we betray a ruler who showed us nothing but peace and prosperity?'

Komand'r/Blackfire responded the following.

' I do not blame you if you want self preservation over a bloody war….. however I implore you to listen….. king Myand'r is weak, he did not inspire confidence within his own people and when our hated enemies strike again…. make no mistake they will…. do you believe they will show mercy for the wildlife of this planet….. towards you?'

With that Komand'r got for a response a deafening silence which made her grin from ear to ear, her plans might be salvageable after all.

As Raven stayed behind to further treat king Myand'r the Titans, both official and honorary members went after Komand'r/Blackfire, on their way they were joined by Ryand'r/Wildfire offering them backup.

"are the Omega men joining the action too?"

Wildfire replied with the following.

"sorry Cyborg I gave them clear orders to remain behind and guard my people and family"

Night-wing interjected with the following.

"good call….. Beast boy fly on ahead of us…. Blackfire might be up to something."

Beast boy who took the form of a peregrine falcon gave a small silent nod before changing form into a pterodactyl flying on ahead of them to where Blackfire maybe hiding, once he reached the destination however he didn't like what he saw. Blackfire out in the open followed by an army of local wildlife, waiting to begin their attack.

Turning around he reconvened with the rest of the group before reverting back into human form.

" good news….. she's not hiding… bad news… she's got the entire animal kingdom acting as her soldiers and generals."

Starfire, seeing that Beast boy began to panic a little, tried to calm him down.

"you have done wonderfully my friend….. now Night-wing, Beast boy, Taryia and Cyborg distract the beasts while myself Karras and Ryand'r give chase to Komand'r…. Titans Together…"

With that Taryia Night-wing, Beast boy and Cyborg stayed behind as per Starfire's request and order.

"so how are we gonna distract a bunch of ferocious animals intending to maul us into kibble and bits?…. raise a circus act?"

At that no one answered Beast boy's rhetorical question except Taryia.

" I do not understand fully what a circus is but it sounds like a wonderful idea…"

At that Night-wing had an idea pop into his head sharing it with the rest. With Starfire leading the charge against Komand'r she hoped, nay prayed that the local animals would not interfere with her efforts, it was not simply because she couldn't bear to harm animals in any manner, on Tamaran animals were considered as holy and sacred. To her disappointment some of the animals stayed behind to interfere with the chase.

'stand down I do not wish to inflict harm on you by any means'

To that the animal's only response was.

' as long as we enjoyed king Myand'r's rule, we cannot allow outside threats to endanger our way of life…'

Starfire recognizing what happened whispered the following to Karras and Ryand'r.

"may I count on you to keep these creatures occupied?"

She in return got a nod from both Karras and Ryand'r as she flew off searching after Komand'r until she landed in a familiar place from long ago.

' brings up memories…. doesn't it little one?'

Starfire was about to respond however she was struck down by one of Komand'r's star bolts, luckily for her it wasn't a direct hit, leaving her with a graze an her left shoulder.

'you talk too much… now shut up and fight'

With that Starfire tackled Blackfire as she flew off with her sister as she replied.

'and your too violent to talk to.'

With that she released Blackfire into a clearing as both of them began to fight with hand to hand combat, this time however Blackfire tried to make sure Starfire didn't get close within striking distance.

'give it up I was always your superior…'

Starfire at this point simply began taunting her trying to keep her unfocused.

' if that is so….. why are you perspiring dear sister?….'

Komand'r/Blackfire was unimpressed.

'you'll need to try harder than that….'

Starfire kept on mocking her.

'that's the thing I don't have to try at all….. father knew what kind of a weakling you were so he acted accordingly…. he cared more for Tamaran than you ever did…'

As Komand'r /Blackfire closed the distance even further she began launching star bolts at her sister before trying to fry her with her eye projectiles at close range. At this moment Starfire took to the sky trying to regain some distance before diving right back in in an attempt to uppercut Blackfire, an attempt that almost worked, only sending the older sister a few yards away.

"nothing to say Komand'r?"

Komand'r spat to the side as she steeled herself for Koryand'r's incoming attack as she replied.

" you talk to me about strength and weakness?….. that's a laugh…. you had nothing to fight for your entire life… unlike me who had to fight everything and everyone… including my own sense of self worth….."

At this point Starfire relaxed herself to Komand'r's surprise as she started firing her star bolts seemingly aimlessly, however it was the farthest thing from the truth, she aimed her star bolts at Komand'r's wrist guards where she operated her warp portals, noticing that Komand'r/Blackfire gave a wry smile saying.

'thank you sister….. I was planning to finish you off here and now.'

With that the fight resumed on with Komand'r and Koryand'r trading repeated blows to one another with the occasional block thrown into the mix with much of the blows eventually hitting Komand'r making her fall down and loose balance for a bit before trying to get up, when she found that difficult each time that happened and the fight dragging on and on she wound up thinking to herself.

'no…. I can't allow it to end like this….. I will not let my weakling sister get the best of me again'

Starfire noticing her sister's strength leaving has started to step closer to her, with the intent of capturing and securing her once more.

'haven't you always wondered how the citadel managed to strong arm Myand'r into selling you into slavery?'

Koryand'r's/Starfire's only response was.

" I know why…. you sold your own people to the citadel…. it took me a while to understand and piece it all…. however there is still something that I wish to understand…."

At that moment Komand'r managed to regain enough strength for one last attack as Starfire steeled herself for it.

" why jeopardize our own planet's future?….. was it all just because of petty jealousy?"

As Komand'r's/Blackfire's punch came into contact with Starfire's forearms Komand'r finally spat with her last breath.

"it wasn't just because of that….. it's because they betrayed me first….. hating me for something I had no control over….."

With that Komand'r/Blackfire collapsed from over exerting herself as Starfire caught her in her arms just as the rest of the Titans caught on.

"is it over?"

Starfire at this point answered Night-wing the following.

" I certainly hope so….. now let's get Komand'r back to the infirmary…. she needs to stand trial."

Beast boy interjected at this point.

"are you sure it's a good idea?… what's stopping her from escaping once she back to her old self again.

Karras answered his question.

"that's a valid concern young one…. have no fear though, this time she'll be heavily guarded both once she's in recovery and in jail."

Once that was settled the Teen Titans opened a warp portal of their own with Karras and Taryia moving on ahead to make the necessary preparations before they could step through, once they returned the rest of the Teen Titans followed suit with all of them having the exact same thought.

'let's hope this time it really is over…'

A few hours have passed as the Teen Titans returned with Komand'r which by this point king Myand'r has mostly healed with the exceptions to the wounds that could not be mend, mainly his right eye. For the duration of his treatment he rested as much as possible so when he finally woke up he was met with Komand'r resting on the bed to his left. Staring at her for a few moments he expected anger to boil up inside of him, not only for endangering his loyal subjects or rallying some of them against him but for murdering king Tharras and his queen, however he felt nothing. At this precise point Raven entered the room to check both on king Myand'r and Blackfire.

"greetings…. you must have a few questions you'd like to ask."

King Myand'r responded with the same courtesy given to him.

"not as much…. many regrets however…. too many to count"

At that Raven got closer as she offered the following.

" I could lessen the impact of those emotions…. it may give you peace of mind."

To that he politely refused stating.

"thank you young lady, however I'll need those regrets to further better myself in the future."

At that Raven gave a small nod of acknowledgement before she checked on Blackfire, after a few minutes she left and Komand'r slowly came to, feeling disoriented a little bit she quickly remembered what happened, yet surprisingly she remained quiet as she was laying shackled to her bed, however mentally she was sobbing at failing yet again, not knowing what to say Myand'r laid on his bed thinking.

' do you know about what happened to your grand parents and uncles?'

Surprised a bit Komand'r answered the following.

' no….. not that I even bothered to ask truthfully'

Myand'r continued on with his story.

'my father and brothers died in combat by the hands of the citadel….. I wanted to join the fight to protect our kingdom but I was too young and inexperienced….. a few moments later my mother sold herself to slavery with her last words being Tamaran must come first.'

Komand'r had nothing to say or didn't know how to react, she laid there thinking until she asked the only logical question.

'what is the purpose behind such story?, are you trying to make excuses? Or are you begging only now for my forgiveness?'

At that Myand'r could only give a dry laugh stating.

' I know all too well that you could not, nor should you forgive me, more so I hold no regrets about making the decisions to save our planet… my only wish is for you to understand so we may hopefully move forward from this dark chapter in our family's history.'

Komand'r hearing his response only closed her eyes as she gave the following reply.

' I wish it to be as simply as you say it, however for what I have done there is no repentance….. besides I can never forget that when I needed you to be my father first and for most, you instead chose to be the ruler of Tamaran.'

Unbeknownst to them Starfire/Koryand'r stood outside their infirmary room silently listening or to be precise accidentally eavesdropping ,Night-wing then came by a few moments later to offer some emotional support before leaving the two to rest while they went back to their rooms to pack for their trip back home.

"say Richard….. do you believe Komand'r to be irredeemable as she does?"

Night-wing/ Richard thought for a few solid seconds before answering.

" what she's done not one of us could forget or forgive….. however Blackfire can only move forward if she chooses so."

At that Starfire only response was a small kiss on Richard's cheek to which he retorted with.

"what was that for?"

Starfire simply and sweetly answered.

" that was for being yourself."

At that night-wing/Richard answered cheekily.

"remind me to do that more often….."

At that moment Cyborg came rushing by towards the couple with news and updates.

"sorry to mess up your plans but we have trouble."

Both Night-wing and Starfire gestured Cyborg to continue.

"the people caught wind of Blackfire's capture and it turned out to a full on riot."

Night-wing could only utter cusses for what happened before he pulled himself back together replying Cyborg the following.

"go find Karras, Wildfire and the rest of the guards, tell them to contain the fights to a minimum or break up the riots completely if they need to… we need to get to the bottom of this so we could find a more permanent solution."

With that everyone agreed and went their separate ways with Night-wing and Starfire heading towards the palace to consult with queen Luand'r. once arriving at the palace Night-wing could observe from afar that queen Luand'r was at the current moment holding a meeting with a small group of Tamaranian elders.

"the council? I wonder what brought them here?"

Night-wing clearly needed clarification motioned Starfire to explain a little however she just opted to reply with a gesture that they should keep quiet and listen in on the conversation.

'my lady thank you for seeing us on such short notice….. from the moment we learned of Komand'r's failed attempt to kill you and lord Myand'r….. we've awaited your return…. however you may not wish what we have to say…. please escort us to the inner council…'

Agreeing to their request queen Luand'r followed the council as they left while Starfire and Night-wing remained out of sight.

"should we follow?"

Starfire responded the following.

"the council are a group of sages respected and loved by all…. we should get back to our friends and offer them support."

Agreeing to that Night-wing followed suit.

Later in the day when the riots died down the Teen Titans plus their honorary members have managed to transport Komand'r to a safer holding location with now all of them gathered in the main hall.

"so let me get it straight….. half a planet wants to kill Blackfire while the other half wants to treat her like the next Che Guevara!?"

Night-wing responded to Beast boy's statement.

"that's pretty much it in a nutshell."

With that Karras made the following statement.

"we should then make heist on her judgement then…. in the hopes that a formal ruling would restore some order."

Before anyone could reply king Myand'r accompanied by queen Luand'r entered the room, Starfire relieved and worried to see her father exerting himself quickly flew next to him.

" are you sure you're rested enough?!"

King Myand'r rejoiced to hear and feel his daughter's embrace has replied as such.

" I'm for the moment fine….. more importantly however I've received news from the council, they want Komand'r to rule the planet with us besides her as council."

Shocked by what she heard Starfire stayed silent for a few minutes before exclaiming.

"surely they jest….. otherwise it is insanity to let her rule…"

Myand'r stopped her with this reassurance.

"believe me it has displeased me in the same manner, so I have reached a compromise of my own…she will stand trial before the people of both kingdoms for the crimes she committed and then after sorting on what the people think her fate should be, I will present her with a final challenge with the sentence reflecting the outcome of said challenge…"

Still unsatisfied with the results Starfire simply showed respect for her father before rejoining the rest of the Titans in hopes of finding something to distract her, at this point Night-wing whispered.

"no matter what happens she's lost…. we're still alive and well and that's ultimately what matters."

A few hours went by and every person present in the room went on about their daily lives or so it seemed however for Karras there was one more issue to settle. Asking around about where to find the elders council he managed to locate their meeting place, finding the place the council greeted him as though they already expected him.

'come in young one, how may we aid the eldest son of the southern kingdom?'

Karras weighted his words carefully before responding as followed.

' as you all may recollect my father and mother were planning to have me wed to princess Koryand'r with the intention of uniting the kingdoms under one rule…. I would simply want to know what may lay in the future for me with the recent developments that occurred.'

The council chose to keep quiet for a few moments before the one standing at its head gave the following answer.

'we are well aware of your predicament and plight young one…. we are aware as well of the treachery king Tharras and queen Salja have attempted to commit….. therefore we see it as only fair to declare the following…. the two kingdom shall be reunited as one, however, you may never rule over them…. you and the generations that will succeed you will serve as warriors and royal guards for as long as the kingdoms and Tamaran shall exists.'

In a mixture of hurt and betrayal Karras clenched his fists as he asked the following question.

' am I to understand that I am being punished for the transgressions of my parents?'

The head council member replied as followed.

'indeed…. do you wish to voice your displeasure over this ruling young one?…. if so allow me to advise you to chose your words carefully'

To their surprise Karras just gave a dry laugh answering.

' in actuality I do not….. however mark my words….. not only I shall keep serving my kingdom and planet faithfully but I shall raise the finest of warriors this planet has ever seen for generations to come…. now if you'll excuse me I have a tight schedule to keep.'

With a pleasant yet forced expression on their face the council excused captain Karras as he returned to the palace in search for is beloved Taryia with the intention of informing her of this development, however instead of finding her he ran into princess Koryand'r.

"my lady have you seen Taryia anywhere?"

Koryand'r/Starfire repaid his respect in kind.

" I believe she said she's somewhere around the training fields… may I inquire as to what's it about?"

Karras answered formally.

"with all due respect princess the manner of this conversation is private…. all I could truly say is that I have for the most part wondrous news to report for her"

Catching his meaning quickly she replied the following.

" I suggest you make haste then…. my best regards for the both of you."

Respectfully nodding his head he went off on his way but not before stating.

"my best regards as well for you and Night-wing as well"

At this point Starfire gave him a small smile before she went off preparing mentally for the upcoming trial of her older sister Komand'r with one hope in mind.

'X'hal, please let the trial be just…'

A few days have passed as the day of the trial arrived with the Teen Titans volunteering as extra security for the prisoner as Komand'r was being led into trial as Myand'r was now officiating as the judge, Night-wing a tad skeptical asked Starfire politely.

"are you sure it's a wise idea for the king to act as judge in this case?"

Starfire understanding where the question came from simply stated the following.

"on Tamaran the king and queen are ordained to pass judgement on the people they were chosen to rule over… it's within the king's many obligations to his own people and a sign of deep mutual respect…"

With that Night-wing quickly deduced.

"and I'm guessing it's withing the queen's duty to render final judgement and the verdict accordingly?"

Starfire's only reply was.

"indeed my dear Richard."

As the exchange ended the trial soon commenced with the Teen Titans keeping quiet throughout the trial keeping an eye on the proceedings.

'as some of you may have heard the council has seen fit to decide to allow the former princess Komand'r to rule over Tamaran under some supervision, however that will mean that her recent and past actions would go unpunished…. to that I cannot abide by that decision therefore is the reason we gathered here today to determine the proper punishment she deserves…'

At this point a subject of the kingdom of Tamarus interjected.

'with all due respect my lord…. why have we gathered today?… we must not show mercy to her because surely she's not shown any mercy towards us when she dragged us into her own private war….'

With that the crowd around has started to agree with the following statement until a local young man voiced his opinion.

'my lord…. I doubt princess Komand'r remembers me but I was the young infant she saved that day when the trial over my custody took place….. when I was old enough to hear of what happened I was initially horrified of what she wanted to do to my mother….. however thanks to her actions my mother made sure to raise me to the best of her abilities….'

The first subject who interjected asked impatiently.

' is there a point to your little story?'

The young man replied in a manner of fact.

'my point is this… she made no secret of the hate she bore for us, nor that we hated her just as much…. executing her will not bring us enlightenment and will only prove that she was right all along…. do we really want to justify her?'

The older subject now replied to his younger peer.

'well if you're so wise beyond your years, what do you think a proper punishment would satisfy the people?'

The younger man addressed the entire gathering as well as king Myand'r and the accused.

' I believe a proper punishment would be to let her live in exile for the remainder of her life'

At that king Myand'r gave his fullest attention to the young man's proposal and so most of the subjects gathered until an elderly man voiced his dismay.

' No…. my liege….. I was a father for one of your en who served on the police force… Komand'r killed my son without a second thought….. I'll say a proper punishment for her is to serve for all eternity as a common soldier on the front line, armed with nothing but her wits against our mortal enemy the citadel…..'

Before he could continue with his speech a representative of the high council made his appearance in front of king Myand'r.

'Myand'r… what is this foolishness?….. we already gave you the best solution for the Tamaran conundrum so to what reason do you delay the inevitable?'

The gathered subjects has started to show slight anger over the disrespect they were shown with Komand'r showing some confusion as to why the council bothered to interfere with what for better or worse was a process of justice while king Myand'r remained strong willed with a decisive expression on his face.

' if I recall the council does not have the authority to bark orders at their rulers….. furthermore what I intend to do with this "foolishness" is to rebuild trust not only with my subjects which I took an oath to serve faithfully but to rebuild a sense of trust with my eldest daughter by treating her as she always wished to be treated an equal among equals….'

At that the council representative was found lost for words as king Myand'r closed the conversation with.

' now if you'll excuse me I have a trial to conclude.'

With that being said king Myand'r continued the trial for about a few more hours until queen Luand'r took centre stage.

'Komand'r after much considerations and debate I have come to a final decision…. you'll face not only in a duel against Myand'r to determine your future…. you will face also Koryand'r and her friends for the offenses you've committed against them as well… do you concede?'

Komand'r's only reply was.

'what are the terms for the duel?'

Luand'r explained the following.

' if you are declared victorious we shall follow the council's advice to let you rule under intense scrutiny, in the case of a standstill you'll gain your freedom at the price of indefinite exile, and shall you loose you'll be incarcerated for the remainder of your natural life.'

As the sentence has been passed Komand'r was escorted back to her prison cell by Karras's soldiers with the Teen titans escorting them, on the journey back Komand'r noticed that Koryand'r was acting peculiar so she addressed her.

'speak your mind little one.'

Koryand'r/Starfire a bit distracted replied the following.

'perhaps I am behaving like an earthling on that regard but I do not trust you…. I know that you are cunning and manipulative…. so what are you planning older one…..?'

Not offended at all by the blunt question, in fact there was a hint of pride in Komand'r/Blackfire, so she chose to answer the following.

'you believe you've caught me a little too easily?'

Koryand'r only gave a firm nod of agreement so Komand'r chose to conclude the conversation with the following.

" I don't expect you to trust me or believe me much…. but I believe you've grown as a warrior as well as a woman so I'll request you only this….."

Starfire gestured her to continue.

" when we face next on the battlefield be at your best….. I'll accept nothing less or else I will give you a good reason to fear me…"

Once reaching the prison the Teen titans and their newly honorary members made sure that Komand'r/Blackfire was thoroughly secured before returning to the royal castle with some of the Titans like Cyborg and Raven pitched in to make repairs caused by Blackfire's attack while Beast boy returned back to his room to rest with Starfire and Night-wing doing the same, the latter doing some calls to Batman and the rest of the Titans back on earth to update them on the situation on Tamaran.

"hey Hawk can I count on you guys to hold the fort for a few more days until we'll return?"

Hawk responded in his usual manner.

"sure but you'll owe me big time…. and I aim to collect."

Night-wing gave to that only a dry laugh before he disconnected the conversation, now giving his full attention to a pensive Starfire.

"you're worried about something care to tell me about what?"

With that said he started massaging Starfire's shoulders slowly but surely getting a little bolder and bolder by the minute trailing his hands downwards in a slow and steady pace getting a small giggle and a sigh from Star in return.

" well I'm not worried about you loosing your touch…. however I am a little worried I'm getting less and less trustful when it comes to my sister…. she never fails at confusing me."

To that Night-wing grinned for a bit before answering.

" as a younger kid I came across a lot of articles about Batman, asking or claiming if whether or not if he's insane as the criminals he was fighting against or worse…. in some extreme cases a hack with a doctor's degree once claimed that Batman created the criminals as narcissistic proxies, existing only to satisfy his psychopathic tendencies claiming is the one true villain Gotham ever had….. so naturally it raised some questions, so I confronted him about it, do you know what he answered?"

At that Starfire nodded him to continue his story and his 'massage'.

" he said…. 'Dick, I'm not going to try and deny the claims other people have made or justify some of the choices I made over the years…. people will always try to convince you or tempt you to think like them…. in some cases people are dependent on that…. the best thing you can do is trust your own judgement and stay true to it… whatever you decide in the end, make sure you're strong enough to stand by the decisions you make in life."

At that Starfire a bit more reassured so she concluded the conversation with the following statement.

"as much as I want you to continue what you're doing… we should gather up the titans for a training session…. Blackfire will not settle for anything but our absolute best…"

As Night-wing started kissing Starfire passionately a small grin came across his face.

"sounds reasonable…. within the hour…. let's say?"

It was now Starfire's turn to grin.

"better make it two….."

**To be concluded in part 03.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: **Destination unknown.

In the days since Komand'r was sentenced the Teen Titans spent their days, sometimes even nights for some, in all manner of training possible with each Titan focusing on his/her strength and weakness, sometimes alone and sometimes together, speaking of together. It was the morning of the day before the fated duel as Beast boy woke up with Raven/Rachel laying next to him in bed.

"you're anxious and worried…."

Beast boy in his usual manner just replied.

"well that is because I am worried and anxious…"

At that Raven/Rachel gave a small smile while still keeping her eyes closed.

"worried that you're not pitching a tent when we sleep together?"

A little taken aback by her bluntness Beast boy could only reply.

"no I'm not worried about that… honestly I'm worried at this rate you'd steal my jokes…"

Raven/Rachel now smirking a tiny bit just replied.

"well you need to practice with your timing and reflexes"

At that Beast boy only replied the following as he stole a quick kiss from Raven/Rachel.

"yes mam…."

With that he quickly yet gently got out of bed, changed into his uniform and went outside while Raven spoke up.

" got a message from Night-wing…. a group training session today at noon don't be late"

Beast boy smirked while giving her his usual genuine smile.

"late or not I'll be running."

As Beast boy left Raven contemplated whether or not to throw a pillow at his face, she ultimately decided not to on account of her being in a rare good mood.

Beast boy wondered the grand halls of the Tamaranian palace he came across Starfire practicing her flying skills out in the garden.

"greetings friend would you like to join me?"

Beast boy said thanks but no thanks as in the moment he came up with a question.

"say Starfire I need to ask for a small favor….."

With that Starfire/Koryand'r landed for a few minutes curious about what Beast boy could ask of her.

"say do you know where I could find around here a souvenir shop?… I would like to buy something special for a special someone…"

Starfire began to grin a little as she asked.

"that wouldn't happen to be friend Raven by any chance?"

At that Beast boy only chuckled nervously saying.

" funny you should say that."

At that Starfire showed a knowing smile.

"do not worry I would not spoil the surprise…. wait her for a bit as I'll escort you to a place where you'll find what you seek"

With that Starfire quickly took of for a few minutes before returning and as per promised she escorted Beast boy to a well renowned smithy. After a few hours Beast boy was now returning with Starfire.

"you think he'll have her gift ready in time?"

Starfire reassured him.

"when a Tamaranian gives his word he'll keep it… now hurry up we've got a training session starting soon."

With that Starfire quickened her pace with Beast boy matching it close behind.

'let's hope it's by the end of the day then…'

As the day came to an end Beast boy did not receive his order, at this point he contemplated on going back there and pick it up himself or at least give the black smith a piece of his mind however before he could do anything else hew saw the very man himself greeting him with the item in hand, as he greeted the man, he took the item in question, thanked him and went back to his room. Later that evening Beast boy set the gift aside as raven/Rachel gave him a visit, she was about to ask why he summoned her that night, eager to catch a long good night sleep, until she spotted the item in question, a fleece with a Greek styled helmet custom made to emulate the features of a raven.

Realizing what he's done Raven responded in her trademark dead pan humor.

"gee no better way to tell a girl she's ugly like presenting her with a mask to cover her face."

Beast boy confused just stated.

"ugly?!…. where did that come from?…. it's for you tomorrow against Blackfire I swear!…"

Cracking a wry smile Raven/Rachel replied with.

" I know I'm teasing…."

Beast boy only shot her a dirty look saying silently ' oh really you almost gave me a heart attack' inwardly smiling Raven tried on the fleece and helmet, striking a pose for Beast boy to lighten the mood which he in returned appreciated it.

"you know what….. something's missing…"

Before she could ask any further he got down on one knee and placed a custom ring matching in design with the claps of her cloak and placed it on her ring finger on her left hand. At this Raven/Rachel was at a loss for words.

" I know you said not to rush things, but I can't anymore….. it's not enough for me to just say I love you over and over again… I wanted to prove it with actions…."

Before he could rant further on Raven/Rachel surprised him by tackling him to the floor, giving him a passionate kiss in the process, that kiss turned into a make out session until both of them came up for air.

"that by the way was payback for this morning…. you Beast…"

At that statement Beast boy only gave a smug grin.

As the night wore on morning quickly came, now with every Teen Titan assembled in the large dinning room eating breakfast before the duel could officially commence.

"guys don't stuff your face with too much food… you don't want to get sluggish you know…"

Everyone agreed with Night-wing on this point, they also agreed that he acted like an obnoxious high school coach. With Cyborg finishing his breakfast first he couldn't help but notice that both Beast boy and Raven were in a particular good mood this morning.

"alright you two… spill it, what's going on?"

Beast boy picking up on Cyborg's big bro tone just answered as followed.

" what do you mean?… nothing really…. just had a real good night's sleep."

Cyborg at this point asked Raven or at least tried to get a straight answer out of her but she gave a gesture similar to Beast boy so he dropped the subject to pick up on it later, speaking of picking up, Night-wing picked up on what the fuss was about, especially the ring on Raven's finger.

"only Beast boy?"

Raven in her deadpan manner replied.

"only Beast boy."

As the Teen Titans finished their breakfast all of them headed for the arena. Stepping foot inside of it the group witnessed the the arena floor was segmented by pillars of rock with different heights.

" I'm guessing that's here to make our lives a living hell?"

Night-wing responded.

"honestly Beast boy…. you're guess is as good as mine…"

At this point Komand'r came from the other side of the arena clearing the confusion.

"it's here to make our duel a little more challenging for both sides… think of it as flight obstacles…"

With that in mind king Myand'r made his appearance quieting down the audience as he officiated the first rounds of fights.

"Komand'r… Titans… you have the choice on how the fights shall be conducted…."

As soon as king Myand'r gave the signal the Teen Titans led by Starfire and Night-wing leap into action with Beast boy charging on the front lines morphing into a variety of animals from earth such as a peregrine, a cheetah and an armadillo, no doubt trying to cause a distraction as Cyborg and Starfire started shooting projectiles as Night-wing tried to get closer while Raven took to the shadows waiting for Blackfire to draw near, however Blackfire saw right through the tactic as she timed it just right sending a star bolt at one of the pillars near Beast boy hoping to confuse him or crush him under the debris.

"oh no not today lady I got other ideas in mind…."

With that Beast boy morphed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex swapping away most of the debris as he charged at her straight on, changing yet again, this time into a stegosaurus, however before Blackfire could brace herself for the attack Beast boy yet again changed forms, this time into a local predator, similar to the prehistoric Jaguar he faced off almost a week ago, trying to pin Blackfire down while swiping at her. Blackfire genuinely chuckled a bit as she exclaimed.

"so what was the idea? You think that I won't blast you with my star bolts without risking hurting myself?"

Beast boy telepathically responded.

'maybe…..'

With that Blackfire kicked him in the crotch really hard, making him take a few steps back before blasting him with a few precise star bolts sending crashing into a pillar. With that Cyborg couldn't flinch in pain himself as he charged at Blackfire looking for payback with Night-wing close by his side sharing the same sentiments.

"you evil bitch of no virtue….."

With that Cyborg charged his white noise cannon firing a few shots at Black who by now treated this duel as though it was a game.

"ooh is that a new toy you want to show me?"

With that Cyborg's shots kept on coming only to seemingly miss at every turn only in reality he missed on purpose creating debris for Night-wing to use as cover while he snuck around to take her by surprise while he and Starfire kept the bitch of a sister busy, at this point in time Raven quickly transported Beast boy behind the debris to administer first aid.

"still breathing?"

Beast boy coming to it smiled weakly.

"nothing I can't walk off…."

Knowing what he was trying to do Raven responded accordingly.

"don't try to joke now…. if she kicked you even harder she could've left you impotent"

Beast boy tried to say "not on my life" however before he could speak he spotted a stray star bolt heading towards Raven.

"hit the deck…..!"

With that Blackfire approached observing the wreckage her star bolt caused, only to notice the green one and the healer survived relatively unscathed, before she could comment on that development Night-wing came out of hiding, escrima sticks at the ready.

"last time you attacked me you barely survived, what do you hope for this time?"

Night-wing answered nonchalantly.

"last time I went after you directly… this time however….."

With that he started attacking her arms with his escrima sticks or more precisely the armor around her hands.

"clever little boy…. but my armor is stronger than any earthling weapon so you'll have to use double the force…."

With that she caught Night-wing by surprise as she grabbed him by the collar, throwing him towards the stands in the stadium only to be caught mid air by Starfire before being launched by his lover straight back towards Blackfire, managing to inflict a direct punch to her jawline, managing to knock off the head gear off of Blackfire's/Komand'r's head.

"had enough?…. or are you ready for round two?"

At that Blackfire/Komand'r only gave him an intense glare silently declaring ' I will never concede to defeat' as king Myand'r left the stands of the arena to prepare and take centre stage himself.

'Luand'r my dear….. I entrust you to keep everything in order in my absence '

At this point Beast boy, still a bit shaken, has returned to the battle maintaining the form of a jaguar as Cyborg exclaimed.

"does someone has a backup plan?"

At this Night-wing replied.

" yeah, stay alive and stay sharp until king Myand'r joins the fight."

Cyborg only muttered the following.

"oh solid man… real solid…."

Deep beneath the arena within an armory room king Myand'r chose the following weapons before heading out, a set of small throwing axes, a large broad sword and a medium sized mace, as he equipped the weapons on his person he quickly took to the air as he made his presence known in the arena.

"Komand'r… prepare yourself, it's time I beat some sense into you…."

Night-wing was the first to comment on his arrival as he was currently avoiding getting hit by Blackfire.

"well that's lucky…. a minute longer and I might have been minced meat."

At this point Night-wing dove out of the way as king Myand'r dove into battle clashing with Komand'r head on trying to swipe her with his mace to which Komand'r caught last second, disarming it from his hands as she flung it towards a still intact pillar, getting it lodged solidly.

'better luck next time elder one…..'

King Myand'r only gave a dry laugh stating.

"if you claim to know me dear daughter…. you'd know that I don't need luck."

With that the duel became a one on one match between father and daughter all the while Raven regrouped the Teen Titans tending to their wounds ,no matter how small they might be, as she asked.

" so our job now is to wait until king Myand'r asks for cover fire?"

Night-wing and Starfire looked back on the fight stating simultaneously.

"pretty much….. in the meantime we rest."

None of the Teen Titans had any objections in particular until Beast boy brought up a good point.

"can we afford to relax?….. you know Blackfire's not shy to cheating….."

Night-wing replied the following.

" you know what you're right… we'll keep an eye on her in turns, starting with you taking the first turn… since it was your idea."

At that Beast boy comically grumbled as he turned his head towards the battle, as king Myand'r went on the offensive with the throwing axes trying to swipe Komand'r/Blackfire whom at this point dodged every slice as she tried to launch a star bolt at her opponent. For a while the fight consisted with near dodges and misses as Myand'r to defend himself from her blasts used the reflective surfaces of the weapons as a makeshift shield until Komand'r surprised Myand'r by stealing the sword of his back and slicing the axes turning them into nothing more than fire wood.

"surrender….. you have no more weapons to defend yourself against me…"

At this point the Teen Titans wanted to intervene however Starfire quietly stopped them as king Myand'r gave his answer.

"the only condition to my surrender is either by loosing my life or loosing my limbs….. so far I have lost neither of those….."

With that king Myand'r seemingly charged at Komand'r bare handed but to her surprise he veered off in mid flight heading towards the discarded mace which left Komand'r speechless, thinking to herself.

' well now this is truly impressive…'

With Myand'r reaching the mace he pulled it out with ease as he veered yet again this time setting his sights at Komand'r, to which she reciprocated by taking flight with her sword in hand while both stating at the same time.

" I cannot afford to lose…"

As both weapons collided a small shock wave was produced, kicking up some dust obscuring the view of the battle as both combatants struggled to gain dominance over the other.

"does anyone in the stadium has sunglasses?"

To that the Teen Titans all gave Beast boy a dead pan look asking silently 'really?' before the dust cloud receded now witnessing that both the sword and the mace were destroyed beyond repair.

"looks like this fight will be settled with brute physical might…"

To that Myand'r agreed.

As the opponents charged at each other a series of blows were exchanged as little by little their armor began to show wear and tear. At this rate about two Tamaranian hours have passed as both opponents were hopelessly at an impasse, none of them gaining any advantage over the other, leaving them both to have the same thought.

'this is it for me…. my last stand…. better make it count…'

With that thought passing both Komand'r and Myand'r took flight charging at each other with Komand'r charging up with solar radiation to power up one last star bolt, Myand'r took noticed as he shouted.

'whatever happens do not attempt to hold back….'

Catching that comment Komand'r responded with.

'do not insult me…. you know I'll never do that…'

With that exchange done both combatants collided with one another sending a blinding shock wave that forced both the Teen Titans and the spectators to shield their eyes while the light died down. Once the light did die down however the sight before them perplexed both audience and contestants, both king Myand'r and Komand'r laid on the ground unresponsive. Starfire was the first to react, immediately rushing to both of their sides checking for a pulse. To her relief both sides were still among the living only unconscious or so it seemed.

"Komand'r?…. you're still conscious?"

Komand'r/Blackfire responded as followed.

"yes… however I can barely find the strength to stand… let alone move…"

At that Koryand'r/Starfire called her mother, queen Luand'r to announce the final result officially, after a few moments queen Luand'r entered the arena now facing both of her daughters.

"Koryand'r… has any of your team is in a good shape to keep on fighting?"

At that Starfire/Koryand'r responded as followed.

"alive yes… fatigued as well…"

At this point Raven has completed treating the rest of the Teen Titans, now giving her attention to king Myand'r.

After thanking Raven queen Luand'r now addressed Komand'r.

"what about you my daughter?"

At that Komand'r gave the following answer.

"alive….. however I cannot move… so you must declare my loss…."

Queen Luand'r responded to her daughter's declaration in her native tongue.

'you were always prideful… I'll declare the results as follows… the results of the match were inconclusive….. it's a draw.'

At a rare display of humility Blackfire/Komand'r begged her mother.

'please….. I beg you to declare my loss…our family…. our kingdom….our people can no longer build it's foundations on half truths and compromises…. besides even if I would've ended up as the rightful ruler…. I could never attain the love of the people as Koryand'r or Myand'r before her.'

Queen Luand'r started patting Komand'r's shoulder while giving her the following response.

'thank you for showing me such a compassionate side of yours…. if you still insist that you've lost that is how I will rule it.'

Hearing that Komand'r only gave a fierce nod of approval as queen Luand'r declared the loss of former princess Komand'r as the crowd one by one stood and gestured their respect to each of the contestants and rulers, that is until the council's representative made his presence known.

' a true display of Tamaranian's sense of bravado and justice…. however according to our own laws princess Koryand'r must take the throne if princess Komand'r is found unworthy of it.'

At that queen Luand'r was about to make her objections until Koryand'r herself surprised them all.

' no I shall not….. make no mistake, I have nothing but love and respect for my home….. however I have been absent from it for far too long to know how to properly lead it…. therefore if I must nominate someone to better lead our people, it would be a choice between prince Ryand'r or prince Karras…..'

At that everyone attending at the arena showed solidarity with princess Koryand'r making the council representative slightly nervous saying the following.

'the judgement on prince Karras is absolute…. however, I will bring up to debate the possibility of prince Ryand'r taking the throne as the next heir in line.'

As the rest of the day went by Komand'r was escorted back to her prison cell courtesy of the royal guard as the Teen Titans went back to the palace to pack up and say their goodbyes on their way back home. As the bgs were all set and ready it came down to the difficult part, saying goodbyes.

"are you sure you can't stay a bit longer daughter?…. we still need to prepare a feast in honor of you and your friends….. not to mention your special someone…."

At that Koryand'r held her father tightly as she replied.

"sadly I cannot… but I'll contact you as often as possible…. I promise…"

With that Koryand'r went to hug her mother farewell with Ryand'r joining just a few moments after.

"no need to say anything else my love…. now go on, your home awaits you….."

Ryand'r chimed in as well.

"hurry now before we'll change our minds…"

At that Koryand'r/Starfire stifled a giggle before joining the Teen Titans as Night-wing opened a warp portal back to earth.

"are you sure it's okay for you to leave without saying goodbye to your sister?"

Starfire answered Night-wing the following.

"my sister was never fond of farewells…. besides knowing her… we'll see each other again…"

Shuddering at the thought, the Teen Titans gave their final farewells as they stepped into the portal, exiting straight into Titans tower where they were greeted by Wonder Girl, Hawk,Dove, Aqua-lad and Kid Flash.

"so you went into outer space, took part in space Olympics, stooped a revolution, took part in a gladiatorial match of honor and you didn't invite me… is that about right?'

Night-wing started smirking at Kid Flash's statement as he added the following.

" I'll love to stay and chat…. but we need to attend to interrupted dinner plans."

With that Night-wing opened up a warp portal towards Gotham city as he stepped through it with a joyful Star/Kory in hand.

Hawk interrupted with the following statement.

"well that was something…."

Back in Gotham city Night-wing/Richard Grayson and Starfire/Kory Andres stepped out of the portal into a very familiar location, the mall they helped save with Batman and Cat-woman, a little curious Kory asked with a slight smirk on her face.

"a small date before meeting the parents again?"

With a genuine smile Richard answered.

"of course plus a good guest never arrives without a gift for it's host."

Content with that answer the both of them spent the entire noon and afternoon at the mall buying the essentials for a successful dinner and of course suitable dinner wear which by the end of the date Richard hailed a cab.

"to the Wayne estate on the double."

The cabbie said nothing, well partly because it was Gotham city, no one was polite here out of the goodness of their own hearts, but mostly because of who Richard was with.

"say aren't you that hot stuff Kory Andres?"

Richard anticipating that happening just replied the following.

"say we're kinda of in a hurry here so why don't I give you a big fat tip to stop this 20 question charade huh?…. sounds good buddy?"

The cabbie just gave a good laugh as he shot back.

"sure….. whatever works for you, you lucky bastard…"

With that the cab drove off towards it's destination, making it to Wayne manor in record time of 25 minutes, as agreed Richard tipped the man as both him and Kory got outside with both of them thinking the exact same thing.

'let's hope they're actually home…'

With that Richard took the lead as he made it to the front of the manor knocking on the front doors.

After a few seconds of waiting the doors flew open revealing the current Robin, Jason Todd, on the other side of it.

"no solicitors… leave the…."

Before he could finish his sentence Alfred came close behind smacking him on the back of his head.

"dreadfully sorry about that master Richard….. miss Andres, young master Todd is an acquired taste as of late…"

Richard smirking made sure to emphasize that no harm was done as he and Kory went inside, making sure that the presents are left with Alfred as they were greeted by Bruce.

"Dick, Kory… what a surprise, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

Richard at this point went to give a firm handshake just stated.

"nothing major old man…. just in the neighbourhood and we thought to drop by."

Bruce at that continued the conversation as follows.

" bearing gifts too I see…. would you like to join us for early dinner?"

At this Richard gave a small approving nod while Kory gave a small smile and a hug towards the host, Jason not one to miss an opportunity for a smart ass remark opened his mouth only to be shut down by Richard.

" keep it to yourself…. trust me you'd be better off for it."

Before Jason could react Alfred hurried him towards the kitchen as Alfred spoke next.

"would you mind watching Jason while I prepare dinner?"

Richard smiling a little just asked the following.

" is he gonna hatch or run off with the silver?"

With that an hour went by as Richard, Kory and the rest of the company present were having a relaxing dinner, sharing stories of Richard's latest adventures, minus the disturbing and morbid details and all in all actually getting a moment to relax, speaking of back in Titans tower the atmosphere was the same.

" so let me get it straight Beast boy, you were on a tropical planet with a room that could put 5 stars hotels to shame and you were served head to toe by gorgeous local girls?"

To that Beast boy had just this to say.

"yep… pretty much…"

At that Hawk just started smirking as he asked the following.

"okay, now how many alien bastards can we expect to run around here and call you papa?"

At that Dove just shot Hawk a dirty look while Beast boy just gave him a blank expression saying.

"wow….. I mean wow…. thanks for the vote of confidence….."

At that Hawk started to laugh hysterically before noticing something important.

"say anyone knows where Raven is?… don't tell me you got her knocked up Beast boy….."

At that Beast boy could only join in the laughter.

"who me?!….. no… nothing like that…. I just proposed to her….."

At that everyone in the tower stopped what they were doing as Hawk just got awkwardly silent as he asked the following.

" wait a minute… is that for real? Or are you fucking with us?"

At that Beast boy just smirked answering him.

"what do you think?"

At this very moment Raven came into the living room with all eyes turned on her.

"let me guess… Beast boy said something…."

With that everyone nodded yes even Beast boy as Raven took a deep breath before she joined the rest of the Titans present to paint a better picture while thinking how she could get back at Beast boy for the stunt he just pulled, Cyborg reading the room and the mood Raven was giving off, went to Beast boy and jokingly whispered.

"well it was nice knowing ya….."

Beast boy began to laugh at first until Cyborg's words sunk in making a shiver go down his spine as a feeling of dread settled in.

"Vic… please tell me you're joking man…."

As the evening went on Raven explained the story behind the proposal a bit better making Beast boy the target for a few angry glares for not bothering to explain himself better to begin with and as Starfire and Night-wing came back via warp portal they too caught on with what happened so far.

"ladies and gentleman… as much as it is fun to tear Beast boy a new one for acting like an ass… may I have your attention?"

With that every Titan present in the room watched him intently as he took out the warp device from his gauntlet as he threw it to the ground and smashed it to pieces while Hawk simply asked.

"you do realize you destroyed something that could be very useful to us right?"

Night-wing answered the question as followed.

" I do….. and I expect you to do the same if you have those devices on you…."

A quick search revealed that only Cyborg, Hawk and Wonder Girl still had ones as they were quickly destroyed as well, in the meantime Raven/Rachel got closer to Beast boy as she started whispering.

"my room…. half an hour…. no questions got it?"

At this point Beast boy would have shuddered but what Raven/Rachel implied but while he knew she actually loved him, he remembered quickly that she can be no less than scary regardless the situation in question, sending goosebumps down his spine.

"got it…."

After the rest of the Titans got on their way back home Beast boy made his way to Raven's room as planned, making sure to knock on the door. As a few seconds went by the doors to Raven's room suddenly opened and before Beast boy could utter a word he was pulled in as the door shut behind him.

"please don't hurt me…. I'll keep my mouth shut from now on…."

Raven didn't say a single word as she planted a passionate kiss on Beast boy's lips leaving him in a state of shock.

"oh I know you will you big ape…"

Beast boy now finding his mouth working again asked in between kisses.

"not that I'm complaining….. but are you sure you can afford to be this… passionate?"

Rolling her eyes in amusement Raven/Rachel answered as followed.

"well I do train and meditate for a reason… why? Does it bother you?"

Beast boy only smiled slightly before saying.

"nope…."

As he continued the passionate make out session with Raven/Rachel, she in turn allowed herself a genuine smile.

"what a conversationalist…."

Speaking of conversations, back at Titan's ops room Night-wing was doing final security checks as Starfire entered the room asking.

"is everything ready for bed?"

Night-wing was about to answer, at least he was, until Starfire/Kory hugged him from behind in a suggestive manner.

" are you ready for bed….?"

Night-wing at that smiled sincerely as he answered.

" in a minute…"

Starfire at that started to laugh a bit as he himself caught his faux pas.

"not what I meant…"

As he checked the security feed to make sure everything's in order before he activated the security systems he noticed Beast boy and Raven getting into it, in her own room no less, before he gave out a sigh muttering to himself.

" please for the love of god stay safe you too…."

With that he 'accidentally' disconnected Raven's security feed as he armed the Tower's security system, remembering his hands on girlfriend at this point he swooped her bridal style as he carried her to his room.

"oh….. I do love it when you take charge like that…"

Night-wing at this point grinned like a mad man.

A few minutes later both Night-wing and Starfire found themselves in Night-wing's quarters as they both were locked in a passionate kiss as they were discarding their uniforms as Night-wing suddenly stopped, Starfire at this point gave him a curious yet worried look as Night-wing answered.

" it's nothing really… I just got a feeling I'm forgetting something…."

At that Starfire/Koryand'r started to laugh as she captured his lips yet again commenting in between kisses.

"yes…. you're forgetting… to tend to your princess's….. needs…."

Night-wing kept on grinning saying.

"well…. allow me to…. correct… this oversight."

As he said it he started caressing Kory's body as he deepened the kiss further, eventually releasing her lips only to plant kisses on her throat travelling downward towards her breasts, down her stomach and ending up kissing and licking her vulva at an even pace making her moan in pleasure.

"please…. don't tease me…. anymore…. I'm afraid I…. can't take… much more of…. this…"

At hearing that Night-wing/Richard just gave a wry smile as he answered.

"well you do know what they say about physical activity….. it's better to warm up first before you start it…."

At that Starfire/Koryand'r returned a wry smirk of her own saying.

"just shut up and take me…"

Loving her bossy attitude Richard only reply was.

"yes mam…"

With that the passionate love making continued as another couple in the tower have fallen asleep in each others arms, well at least one of them was trying to fall asleep, that one being Beast boy, the fact that he was trying? Well, Starfire's and Night-wing's love making reached his ears and his heightened senses making him mumble.

"seriously guys?…."

Beast boy at this point after an intense make out session with Rachel/Raven was now laying in her bed with his top off and his uniform's pants.

"go back to sleep…. they will stop eventually…."

Beast Boy's only reply was.

"easier said than done… if you'll excuse me I think a shower is in order….."

To that Raven/Rachel added in a joking dead pan delivery.

" well….. I could… or better yet I might join you Garfield… or is it Gar?…"

At that Beast boy/Gar just gave a teasing smirk saying.

"well that's kinky… and Gar is just fine…."

With that the both of them started a small make out session as both discarded what remained of their clothes as both in the end found themselves nude in front of each other inside Raven/Rachel's private bathroom with Beast boy/Gar staring at aw towards the actual room.

"Gar… focus… in front of you."

Giving a sheepish smile Beast boy/Gar replied.

"sorry….. it's just so much nicer in here than my entire room…"

At that Raven/Rachel smiled saying.

"well you have a second home within Dayton's estate….."

Beast boy/Gar was about to retort on that comment however Raven/Rachel caught his lips, smoothly and gently she mirrored the exact same act Night-wing/Richard did for Starfire/Kory just a few moments ago rather seamlessly which confused Gar at first because if he remembered correctly Raven/Rachel wasn't a social butterfly, however, he mentally said to himself to forget about it, however this was Beast boy so he ruined the moment between them.

" i'm sorry... let's wait a little while longer?..."

raven/Rachel now kissing his stomach asked a little seductively.

"are you sure?"

to that Beast boy clenched his teeth saying silently 'i'm sure' as she left the bathroom to give him some privacy while teasing him just a little making him think.

'christ... now i really do need a shower...'

As the next day came on Titan's tower both couples were deep in sleep while Cyborg, the resident mechanic woke up as early as day break hoping to call dibs on the Titans gym but not before enjoying a healthy breakfast, eggs, Toast and maybe waffles on the side, thinking to himself.

'first thing first…. after gym…. make sure to upgrade the rooms to sound proof… then maybe afterwards…. check in with Sarah…..'

With that Cyborg sat on the kitchen counter, digging into his breakfast.

A little while later in the day within Raven's room both her and Beast boy were soundly asleep, well mainly Beast boy, Raven consciousness was pulled into her own mind by her yellow representation of knowledge.

"please tell me there's a good reason for this stunt…"

Her yellow counterpart nodded replying.

'there is.'

Raven a little miffed continued the conversation as followed.

"well?… please don't keep me in suspense."

Not amused 'knowledge' simply stated.

'you know very well what it is about….. Trigon will attempt to cross to this dimension using you as its portal… and it will happen within a few short months…'

Raven finished for her in a sarcastic tone laced with fear.

" on my 16th birthday… I know the prophecy better than anyone….. so please will you spare me the dramatics and theatrics and get to the point of this quaint get together?"

'knowledge' cleared her throat.

'well…. since you've put it so eloquently…. it is with my best advice to you that you prepare our friends towards the battle of their lives or else none of us will last to see the end of it…'

Wearing a confidant smile Raven replied with.

"anything else you'd want to share with me?"

Knowledge at that materialized in front of her a tea set gesturing her to join which Raven reciprocated gladly and as the two sat down for tea they began an idle conversation about different topics as well as catching up on what her other emotions have been up to recently all the while Raven fidgeted with the custom ring Beast boy gave her back on Tamaran.

"say do you think it was wise on my part to gently rejects Beast… Gar's marriage proposal?….."

'knowledge didn't say a word at first, well not until she thought it over until she gave her answer.

'it's not something I'm qualified to comment on… it's up to the collective experiences and knowledge you call wisdom to decide on such matters…'

Raven at that answered in a dead pan manner.

"thank you for being so wonderfully vague…"

To that 'Knowledge' allowed herself a smirk as she answered.

'you're welcome…. now make yourself scarce…. it's a brand new day out there, besides Gar's waking up as well….'

With that Raven was "flung" back into her own body as she woke up next to Beast boy/Gar.

"morning beautiful…. breakfast in bed?"

To that Raven/Rachel smiled warmly at him saying.

"as much as I would love that….. I don't want to get too spoiled just yet… besides we've got to get back in routine…."

Beast boy at that grinned a little saying.

"about that… I got a text on the comm this morning saying that Night-wing and Starfire are taking care of morning patrol….. so looks like we get the noon or evening shift."

At that Raven/Rachel gave Beast boy/Gar a small kiss on the lips saying.

"we should get ready anyway…. you know… big cities never sleep…"

Hearing that Beast boy's ears drooped a little as he reluctantly got dressed saying.

" I seriously hope you're…"

At this point the Titans alarm blared off causing Beast boy to utter.

"not jinxing it….."

Feeling slight guilt raven used her powers to get dressed while helping Beast boy finish up dressing eventually saying.

"considering we've survived trips to alternate dimensions, space battles, and a bloody revolution….. I'd say we'll survive what will happen today and tomorrow."

Hearing that made Beast boy laugh wholeheartedly as the both of them sprinted towards the ops room coming across an equally determined and hopeful Night-wing and Starfire.

**Fin **


End file.
